


Alice Harkness and the Philosopher's Stone

by cazmalfoy



Series: Alice Harkness [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Jack Harkness/Lucia Moretti
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-17
Updated: 2012-08-17
Packaged: 2017-11-12 08:46:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 43,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/488975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice Harkness is no ordinary 11 year old. She's a witch and about to start her first year at Hogwarts School.<br/>A Torchwood version of the first Harry Potter book. Story 1/7.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alice Harkness and the Philosopher's Stone

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
> 

**The Girl Who Lived**

The morning of the first day of November dawned bright and clear, if not a little chilly considering the time of year. Up and down the country, the strangest sights had been spotted. Sparks in all different colours flew through the air, and people in the strangest attires seemed to appear out of nowhere, talking excitedly about ‘the biggest victory’ and ‘being free’. Many ordinary people dismissed these as figments of their imaginations, or some kind of _cult_.

In Cardiff, the sandy coloured cat who had been sitting at the end of Dogfield Street, watched the world go by and wondered at the idiocy of people. It was almost like they _wanted_ to announce their existence to the rest of the world, instead of staying secret like they had for centuries. 

Like everyone else, she had heard of the victory almost immediately. She, however had business to attend to and couldn’t focus on celebrating when innocent lives had been lost and when there was still so much uncertainty. She had been sat in the same spot since nine that morning and, as soon as the sun set later that day, there was a quiet crack and a tall, thin man appeared through the darkness and headed down the street towards her. His hands were stuffed in his pockets of his long blue and gold robes, and there was a knowing grin on his face when he finally came to a stop in front of her. “I should have known you’d already be here,” he said by way of a greeting.

The cat glared up at him, before she pushed herself into a standing position and began to transform into her human form. “I’ve been here all day,” she informed him, smoothing her shoulder length blonde hair. “Is it true what they’re saying?” she whispered fearfully.  
Immediately the humour disappeared from his face and he suddenly looked his age. “I’m afraid so,” he murmured, heaving a regretful sigh.

Her hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped in horror. “What about Alice?” she questioned urgently. “She can’t be…” Deep down she knew that the child couldn’t have been hurt, otherwise the man before her wouldn’t have been able to keep his composure long enough to explain the issue to her. He would be out looking for vengeance; there was no doubt about that.

He reached out and placed a gentle hand on her arm, squeezing softly in an attempt to sooth her worries. “Easy, Rose,” he spoke softly. “She’s alive and well; just a little shaken up, I would imagine. I asked Donna to collect her for me.”

Rose Tyler sighed in relief, before frowning deeply. “Donna?” she repeated a slight note of incredulousness in her voice. “Are you sure that’s the best thing? I would have thought you’d go for her yourself.”

“I would have liked to,” he agreed. “The Minister called an urgent meeting to discuss the events of last night and I was unable to leave.” 

“What about-?” Rose was cut off when the unmistakable ‘whoosh’ of a Portkey being used cut through the quiet evening. 

They turned around to see a red-headed woman walking towards them with a small bundle in her arms. “Doctor, Rose,” Donna Noble greeted, flashing them a tired grin as she approached. 

The Doctor nodded his greeting as he eyed Donna critically. “Was it as bad as we expected?” he asked softly. He brushed the blanket back to reveal the baby and sighed with relief when he saw for himself that she was okay.

“Worse,” Donna answered with a sigh. “We’re lucky this little one survived,” she added, smiling affectionately down at the sleeping bundle in her arms. “Unfortunately, Lucia was not as lucky.”

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a confused look. “Only Lucia was there?” the Doctor questioned urgently. 

“Yeah.” Donna nodded. “She was there, all crumpled and everything. The house was almost completely destroyed. Alice really is lucky to still be here,” she added, swallowing around the lump that appeared in her throat.

“But there was no sign of…?” Rose whispered, exchanging a concerned glance with the Doctor.

Donna shook her head. “There wasn’t even a single sign he had ever been there,” she confirmed. “It’s like he knew it was…” Her eyes widened as she realised their implication. “You can’t think… You don’t think _he_ had anything to do with this, do you?”

Rose grimaced and smoothed the front of her robes down for a moment. “He wasn’t there,” she reminded Donna. “You said it yourself; it was almost like he knew something was going to happen. Why else would he have not been there?”

“But he was one of Lucia’s best friends!” Donna hissed, unable to accept what they were saying; surely it was ludicrous. “You know how close they were! I can’t believe he’d do something like that to her. It has to have been a coincidence that he wasn’t there!”

The Doctor raised a hand, effectively silencing Donna tirade. “He was their secret keeper, Donna,” he informed her, regret for letting Lucia make that decision clear in his voice. “You know how the spell works and its nature. The only way Alice and Lucia could have been found was if someone gave away their location. I’ve been in meetings with the Ministry all day and the best Aurors have been sent out to find him.”

Donna sighed heavily and closed her eyes, clutching the baby in her arms a little tighter. “Sirius Black a traitor,” she whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away, angry at herself for crying. “Who’d have thought?”

Again, the quiet of the night was disturbed. However, this time it was a roar of an engine and the three of them were almost blinded by headlights that were surely bright enough to guide in landing aircraft. 

“Uh oh,” the Doctor murmured under his breath, knowing immediately who had just arrived. “That can’t be good.”

Rose winced and nodded her head. Like the Doctor she knew that the new arrival meant an argument was going to ensue in the next few moments, and it wouldn’t be pretty. “This is going to get messy,” she stated as the large motorcycle dropped from the air where it had been flying and landed on the road with a bang.

The bike skidded across the tarmac and came to stop with a screech a few feet away from where the trio were standing. “Where is she?” Jack Harkness demanded, shutting off the engine and jumping off the bike, stalking over to them with a furious expression on his face.

“She’s okay,” Donna assured him, taking a step forward and reaching up with one hand, pulling the blanket away to prove that Alice was perfectly fine and sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of what had happened around her during the previous day.

A look of relief washed over Jack’s face at the sight of his little girl and Donna felt her heart break in sympathy for him. “Thank you,” he whispered, reaching out to take his daughter from the redhead.

“Jack, I don’t think that’s the best idea,” the Doctor argued, before Jack could take Alice.

The blue eyed man turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow with an incredulous expression on his face. “Excuse me?” he said slowly. “What’s not the best idea?” 

“Are you sure Alice going with you is the best thing for her?” the Doctor asked softly, clearly trying to not get angry with the young man that was standing in front of him.

Jack, however, had no such qualms and loudly exclaimed, “I’m her father! I don’t see how that’s not the ‘best thing for her’!” 

The Doctor sighed heavily and closed his eyes momentarily. He opened his eyes and glanced over at Rose, but the look on the blonde’s face told him that he was on his own. “The Wizarding Court deemed you unable to look after her,” the Doctor reminded him. “You’re the reason Lucia had full custody of Alice to begin with, don’t forget.”

Jack’s jaw fell open in shock as he stared at the other man; he was sure that he couldn’t have just heard the Doctor right. “You bastard,” he hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” the Doctor stated, losing the last of his control as he jabbed his index finger against the centre of Jack’s chest. That action seemed to annoy Jack even more as he growled and slapped the hand away. “You’re irresponsible and impulsive, Jack. You’re a danger to Alice when you can’t control your nature like this.”

Jack growled and took a step forward, only to find his path blocked by Rose. “Jack, please calm down,” she pleaded with him. “I know you’re angry but…”

“How did you even find us?” the Doctor demanded over her shoulder. Rose sighed heavily and moved back over to where Donna was standing, muttering that the Doctor would deserve whatever he got from Jack.

Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Did you really think I was going to trust Lucia not to take Alice away from me?” he snapped. “I’ve had a tracking spell on her since the day she was born.”

The Doctor’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Jack, those kind of spells are illegal!” he practically shrieked.

The younger man raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Are you seriously going to tell me what’s illegal and what’s not? You have no right to lecture me about staying within our laws, _Uncle_. Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve had tracking spells on _me_ since I was a baby.”

Rose sighed heavily and stepped between the two of them once more. She had a feeling that, were she to let the argument continue any further, one of them would say something that couldn’t be taken back and their already rocky relationship would be destroyed. And that wouldn’t get anyone anywhere. “Will you two stop?” she snapped, glaring at them both with equal ferociousness in her eyes.

Jack huffed in annoyance, but knew better than to argue with Rose and fell silent as instructed. He averted his eyes from the Doctor (just looking at him made him want to keep arguing) and felt his eyes narrow when he saw a street sign telling him where they were. It was the street he knew Lucia’s sister had moved to when she’d married her disgusting husband. 

“Let me get this straight,” he said menacingly, turning back around to face the Doctor despite the glare Rose was sending in his direction. “I am her legal guardian if Lucia isn’t around to take care of her. But, instead of doing the reasonable thing and leaving Alice with her _father_ , you saw fit to take it on yourself to ship her off to Muggles? Muggles who, by the way, don’t like our kind and don’t know anything about her true nature. Not to mention that they don’t know how to handle what she’d need for the rest of her life?”

The Doctor sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Don’t be like this, Jack,” he pleaded. “I’m trying to do what’s best for Alice in the long run.”

Jack scoffed and turned on his heel, pacing a few steps before turning and walking back to them. “You’re not doing ‘what’s best for Alice’. You’re trying make up for not being able to protect Lucia, I get that. But taking my daughter away from me isn’t going to bring anyone back.”

“You arrived on a motorcycle, Jack!” the Doctor cried, his voice slightly higher than normal and his face red with anger. “You don’t have a job; you’re not even twenty-one for crying out loud! How are you in any way capable of taking care of a baby?”

“I’m not the only young father in the world, Uncle. Others adjusted and so will I,” Jack swore. As an afterthought, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. Turning his back to the trio, he waved it and whispered an incantation under his breath. Seconds later, the motorcycle had been replaced with a sensible, family sized car; complete with a child’s safety seat (Transfiguration had always been his best subject at school – even Rose, who taught to subject, looked impressed at how easily he managed to conjure the vehicle). 

Once he was satisfied that the car was acceptable, he slid the wand back inside his pocket and threw a smug look at the Doctor. The older man didn’t react to Jack’s look, but the set of his jaw made it obvious to anyone that he was irritated and clearly biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying something. 

Jack turned to Donna and reached out to take Alice from the redhead. “Thank you for getting her,” he said, smiling gratefully and pressing a kiss against her cheek. 

Donna flashed him a watery smile and carefully transferred Alice into his arms, gently shushing her when she stirred at the disturbance. “Be careful,” she whispered, cupping Jack’s cheek.

“Donna!” the Doctor shrieked, breaking his anger-filled silence. 

Jack smirked but managed to keep quiet as Donna winced and looked over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Doctor. But Jack is her father.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he spluttered, “B- But…!” 

Beside him, Rose reached out and placed a soft hand on his arm. “John,” she whispered, her soft voice almost lost in the night. “I think she’s right. Jack is all Alice has; she needs him, now more than ever.”

At her words, Jack smiled gratefully and cradled his daughter closer to his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn’t when his throat constricted as emotion threatened to overcome him. He coughed lightly and tried again, “Thank you,” he said, looking between Rose and Donna. He threw a glare at the Doctor, before turning his back on them and heading towards his motorcycle – car, he mentally corrected himself with a small shake of his head.

He had barely gotten more than ten steps away from the group when he heard the Doctor call his name. He stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn around as he waited for his uncle to speak again. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you. If I even think you’re about to do anything that will ruin that little girl’s life, I’ll go to the Ministry and do everything in my power to take her away from you. Do you understand me?” he asked, a hard tone in his voice that neither Rose nor Donna had ever heard him use before.

Jack wasn’t surprised by the tone or the words that were being thrown in his direction. If anything, he had expected the Doctor to threaten him with something similar. Their relationship had been rocky since Jack’s seventh year at Hogwarts and it had been getting progressively worse since then. 

He took in a deep breath and seriously considered heading back towards the Doctor and ripping his throat out like his true nature was telling him to do. One look down at the slumbering child in his arms was all it took for Jack to calm down and realise that there was more at stake than just his own life (he would be sent to Azkaban for sure); he had Alice to worry about now. 

“I understand you perfectly, Uncle. I guess I’ll just have to draw inspiration from the only father figure I’ve ever known, won’t I?” he retorted, continuing onto his car without saying another word.

~

  
**Owl Post**  


_Ten years later_

Jack had been up since the crack of dawn, when the butterflies in his stomach had woken him and he’d been unable to drift off again. It was Alice’s eleventh birthday and the day she would likely receive her letter inviting her to attend the Wizarding School her mother and Jack had attended. Part of him was hoping that she wouldn’t get the letter and she could attend a normal school like her friends. But the father inside him knew that if she hadn’t gotten into the school Alice would be devastated.

“Dad!” Alice shouted from the doorway behind him, making Jack jump and almost spill his cup of tea across the newspaper he had been trying to read for the past hour. “Is it here yet?” she asked urgently.

“Not yet,” Jack replied wearily; it was the fourth time he had been asked the same question since Alice had woken up not much later than Jack to open the insane amount of birthday presents she’d received. 

Alice pouted and her shoulders slumped in disappointment when she heard his answer. “It will come today, though. Won’t it?” Her eyes went wide and filled with tears as she bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop it quivering. 

Jack felt something inside him break when their gazes met and he reached out, drawing her into his arms in a tight hug. “Yes,” he assured her, pressing a kiss against the side of her face. “Everyone I know got their letter on their birthday. Don’t forget, owls can only fly so fast,” he added tickling her ribs in an attempt to make her smile. 

His plan worked; as soon as she felt him tickle her, she let out a startled yelp and started squirming out of his grip. As soon as she managed to break free, she turned on her heel and made a break for it – running out of the dining room and into the relative safety of their living room. 

Jack laughed and shook his head affectionately, turning back to the newspaper had been reading previously instead of following her. He just hoped that she would get into Hogwarts after all and his Uncle wouldn’t make him a liar.

Two hours later, Jack was emptying the washing machine when he heard the unmistakable _whoosh_ of an owl swooping in through the open patio doors into the dining room. 

“It’s here!” Alice cried at the top of her voice, making Jack wince at the volume. Sometimes she seemed to forget how good his hearing actually was.

Jack quickly finished pulling the remainder of the clothes from the machine, before heading into the dining room where Alice was jumping up and down, waving a piece of parchment in the air, while two envelopes lay forgotten at her feet.

“I got in! I got in!” She spotted Jack in the doorway and ran towards him, thrusting the letter into his hands. “Dad, look!” she instructed eagerly.

Jack smiled indulgently and took the letter from her, making a show of reading it as though he’d never seen one before; he knew how excited she was and wasn’t about to ruin her happiness by saying he’d already seen one the exact same. 

“Looks like you’re not going to school with Rachael, then,” he said after ‘reading’ the letter. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to a regular school?” Jack offered, already knowing what her response would be.

Alice rolled her eyes and took the letter back from him. “Would you want to go to a normal school instead of one that was going to teach you how to do magic?” She scoffed and turned on her heel, heading back to where she had dropped the two envelopes. “Oh,” she murmured in surprise, looking at the front of the thinner of them. “This one’s for you,” she added, handing it to Jack before turning back to her own mail.

With a frown, Jack looked down at the letter in his hand, before scowling deeply when he recognised his uncle’s handwriting. He didn’t know what the older wizard could possibly be writing to him about; Jack thought they had said all that was needed two days before when the headmaster had ‘visited’ Alice to drop off her birthday present; Jack knew it was really to make sure she was okay. The Doctor had been scrutinising every move Jack made as a parent, just as he had promised after Lucia had been killed. 

He roughly pulled the parchment from the envelope, sliding in a seat the table to read.

_Jack,_

_I trust that by now you will be aware that Alice has received her letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. I wish you would re-consider accepting my offer to send Alice to a school better catered for her needs, but as I know you will not, I feel that I must establish some ground rules before I can allow someone with her… abilities to attend the school._

_No one must know the truth about what either of you are. You will recall from your time at the school that a similar rule was in place for yourself. I think you’ll agree with me that is in everyone’s best interest that as few people know the truth as possible._

_I would prefer if you didn’t visit Alice during term time. Parents generally are not allowed in the school unless the situation calls for it; if this happens, you will be summoned in due course by either myself or Rose. Turning up unannounced or uninvited will not be tolerated._

_This isn’t your home anymore, Jack; as you were all too eager to point out when you left as soon as you had finished your N.E.W.Ts._

_Give my love to Alice and tell her that I’m looking forward to seeing her on 01 September._

_Uncle John_

Jack growled angrily and tightened his fist around the letter, crumpling the parchment in the palm of his hand. He knew that the Doctor didn’t like what Jack was, but did he have to keep throwing it in his face? And did he have to keep mentioning what it would mean for Alice? And who did he think he was trying to dictate what Alice was allowed to tell her friends once she got to Hogwarts?

“Dad!” Alice called, cutting through Jack’s furious musings. “What’s wrong?” she asked, trying to pry the letter from his hand before he tore it in two. 

Jack frowned and snapped out of his daze, glancing down at the letter and realising that he was going to destroy. “Oh,” he murmured, releasing his grip and folding the letter back up once more. “Sorry, did you say something?” he asked, plastering a grin onto his face as he looking at her. 

“What was the letter about?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. 

“Nothing,” Jack lied, stuffing the letter into his back pocket where it would be safe from her prying eyes. “Did you get your book list?” he asked, trying to change the subject to avoid getting angry again. 

She didn’t answer for a moment as she stared at him; clearly trying to decide if she could pull the truth from him. When their eyes met and she saw the pleading look he was giving her, she decided to drop the subject and slid into the seat next to him. “It’s here,” she replied, sliding a sheet of parchment towards him. “I need to send a reply,” Alice added, pointing to the bottom of her acceptance letter to where the deputy headmistress, Rose, had written that they expected her reply in no more than a week. 

Jack smiled and got to his feet, heading into his office and grabbing two quills, some ink and parchment from the small locked cupboard in his desk (he also shoved the Doctor’s letter in his drawer to deal with later). 

“Dad, you know I can’t write with those,” Alice reminded him when he returned and she saw what he had collected. 

“I know,” he agreed, placing them on the table and sitting back down. “But, you won’t be able to use biros at Hogwarts, so I’m going to show you how to use a quill.”

~

The next day, Jack had almost forgotten about the letter the Doctor had sent the previous day; thankfully Alice seemed to have pushed it from her mind as well – which was surprising considering how curious she was.

Jack was standing in the kitchen, carefully stirring the contents of a large pan when he heard the front door open and his best friend’s voice calling, “Honey, I’m home!” from the hallway. 

Immediately Alice’s answering shout of, “Uncle Remus!” sounded, followed by the unmistakable sound of her running down the hallway to embrace the sandy haired man. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Remus greeted, his voice slightly muffled as he – presumably – pressed a kiss against Alice’s jet black hair. “Did you get anything special in the post?” he asked his tone full of fake ignorance.

Silence answered him and Jack knew that she had just nodded her head, with the same big grin she had been sporting since her letter had arrived.

“So you got into Durmstrang like you wanted?” Remus laughed after a beat of silence.

Alice audibly clicked her tongue and, in his mind’s eye, Jack could see her rolling her eyes in exasperation. “Don’t be silly, Uncle Remus,” she instructed, taking on the same tone she usually used when Jack did something she thought was dumb – she had an uncanny ability of sounding like _she_ was the parent, instead of other way around. “I’m going to Hogwarts!” she exclaimed, making Jack wince at the sudden volume in her statement.

Remus laughed again and offered his congratulations. Jack shook his head and continued stirring the food he was making as he heard footsteps, indicating to him that Alice was heading back to where she had been sorting out what she was planning on taking to take to school in September. Halfway up the stairs, the footsteps paused and Jack heard her instruct Remus, “Ask dad about the letter he got yesterday. He wouldn’t tell me who it was from!” 

Jack groaned and lowered his head in defeat, as he heard his best friend’s footsteps draw closer to the kitchen. Clearly she hadn’t forgotten after all.

“Something smells good,” Remus complimented by way of a greeting as he crossed the room. He pressed a soft kiss to the side of Jack’s neck, just below his ear, making the other man moan softly, before looking over his shoulder, into the pan. “Are you making chilli con carne?” he whispered, his mouth almost salivating at the thought alone. He adored Jack’s cooking.

The slightly younger wizard rolled his eyes and nudged Remus with his elbow. “Since you sent me an owl two days ago, _telling_ me to make you chilli when you visited, what do you think?” he retorted, reaching around Remus for the chilli seeds.

Remus chuckled and moved away from Jack, giving the other man enough room to continue cooking without hindrance. “Well, it smells good,” he complimented. 

Jack rolled his eyes but the corners of his mouth turned up in a pleased smile nevertheless. “It had better do,” he growled. 

His friend rolled his eyes and leant back against the kitchen table, watching Jack dutifully focusing his attention on the food for a minute, before asking, “What’s this letter then?”

Jack stilled in his stirring of the chilli and sighed heavily. “Here,” he instructed, moving to the side and nodding to Remus that he should take over. “Keep your eye on that for a second.”

When he was sure that Remus would be okay – despite Remus’ protests that he was _stirring_ , for crying out loud – Jack quickly ducked out the kitchen and moved down the hallway to his office.

“My uncle sent this yesterday with Alice’s Hogwarts letter,” the blue eyed wizard said, returning and handing the envelope to Remus, before taking over stirring once more.

As Remus read, Jack taste-tested the chilli, added a bit more spice to it, and turned it down to simmer so he didn’t have to stand over the pot as it continued to cook.

Remus sighed heavily and placed the letter down on the table. “Are you really surprised?” he asked softly, watching Jack closely with pity-filled amber eyes. 

Jack ran his hand through his hair as he slumped down in the seat next to Remus. “I really shouldn’t be, should I?” He scoffed and shook his head. “For the past twenty years, all he’s been focusing on is my ‘nature’,” he muttered, adding air-quotes around the word. 

The former Gryffindor frowned and reached out, covering Jack’s hand with his own. “I honestly think he’s just being paranoid,” he mused. “You and Alice are the only family the Doctor has. That’s bound to make him worried that something is going to happen to one, or both of you.”

Jack growled and rolled his eyes. “Don’t try to justify how he is, Remus,” he warned with a dangerous tone in his voice. “If he was really that worried about us, he wouldn’t have spent most of my life trying to push me away, and tell me what I could and couldn’t tell my friends. There were times when that man made my life hell because of something I have no control over. I don’t want him to have opportunity to do the same to my daughter. I didn’t tell _anyone_ while I was at school, but he seems to think that I’ve taught Alice to broadcast what we are from the top of the Astronomy tower!”

Even though he knew that arguing with Jack was a lost cause, Remus couldn’t resist pointing out, “I’ve known about you since we met in first year, and didn’t you tell Ianto the truth when we were thirteen?” 

Jack’s eyes narrowed in irritation. “Fine,” he huffed. “As far he knows, I didn’t tell anyone. Besides, I didn’t _tell_ you,” he argued. “You figured it out for yourself. As for Ianto… I had to tell him when we started fooling around, didn’t I?” He shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes from Remus’ suddenly sad face. 

Neither of them spoke until Remus, running his fingers over the back of Jack’s hand, tried to change the subject with a whispered, “Speaking of Ianto…”

Jack turned to glare at him warningly. “Don’t start,” he cautioned, knowing exactly where Remus was heading with _that_ particular train of thought.

“I’m not starting anything,” Remus swore. “I was just going to say that I saw him this morning. He’s looking good,” he added with a small smile, trying to coax a similar reaction from the other man.

Abruptly, Jack pulled his hand from Remus’ and got to his feet, making a show out of checking the chilli. “Why would I care that he looks good?” he retorted. It was obvious to anyone that he was clearly trying to force his voice to remain light, as though Remus’ words hadn’t affected him.

The other man raised an eyebrow and stared at Jack’s back. “I know you better than that, Jack,” he reminded his friend. “Don’t act like you’re not bothered by the fact that you haven’t seen each other for… I don’t even know how long it’s been,” he confessed.

Jack finally turned around again and glared at Remus. They held the staring competition for a long moment, before Jack heaved a sigh and lowered his head in defeat. “It’s been almost ten years,” he whispered.

“Have you heard yourself?” Remus demanded, getting up and crossing the kitchen. “You can clearly tell how much you miss him. Walking away from Ianto was the biggest mistake you’ve ever made, Jack,” he murmured, bringing a hand up and running his palm over his friend’s cheek.

“I wasn’t the one that walked away, Remus,” Jack sighed, screwing his eyes closed as he fought down his emotions. “He left me, remember? He made his choice and we’ve both had to live with that decision.”

“Why don’t you just be a man, suck it up and get in touch with him again?” Remus growled.

Jack was saved from answered by loud footsteps above him as Alice stomped down the stairs. Remus took a step backwards to put a respectable distance between him and Jack, seconds before the door opened and Alice came running in the kitchen. “Dad, can we go get things for school soon?” she pleaded, looking up at Jack with a hopeful expression on her face.

He groaned and screwed his eyes closed. “Do we have to?” he whined, knowing that taking Alice shopping in Diagon Alley would result in him spending far more money than necessary.

Alice scowled and placed her hands on her hips, looking scarily like her mother, Jack couldn’t help but notice. “Uncle Remus, tell him!” she cried, turning to Remus, knowing that if anyone could convince her dad to do something, it would be him.

Remus laughed and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss against the top of her dark hair. “You know he’ll take you, Alice,” he murmured. “He’s just being his usual dramatic self.”

“Oi!” Jack cried, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at them. “I am standing right here, you know?”

Both Alice and Remus grinned and fluttered their eyelashes at him and Jack sighed heavily, letting his head fall forward a little. “Fine,” he muttered petulantly. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

~

  


**Diagon Alley**  


Jack had been having second thoughts about taking Alice ever since he had agreed, and that feeling didn’t stop all night and the following day. Even when they were standing in front of the dingy pub, Jack was running through various excuses he could give Alice that would get them out of having to go through the doors of the Leaky Cauldron.

One look at his daughter’s eager face was enough to convince Jack that he owed it to her – she had to know the world her parents had grown up in. “Come on, let’s get this over with,” he sighed, reaching down and grabbing Alice’s hand.

“Dad!” she exclaimed, blushing and trying to pull her hand out of his. “We’re in public,” she hissed.

Jack rolled his eyes and tightened his hold, tugging her into the pub. “Tough. It’s not like you know anyone in here,” he pointed out, manoeuvring them through the crowd of people that were milling around. 

They were almost at the door to Diagon Alley when a voice called, “Jack Harkness?” Jack winced and turned to face the speaker. He had recognised the speaker immediately; it was the landlord, Tom, who was looking at him with a slightly-bemused expression on his face. “I thought I recognised you. I haven’t seen you since you were… must have been about fifteen.” Jack winced a little and a blush coloured his cheeks. “You almost got me shut down for serving someone underage,” Tom stated, waggling an accusatory finger in Jack’s direction. His eyes were twinkling and Jack knew he wasn’t really angry, but it was still an embarrassing moment to be reminded of.

Alice laughed and looked up at Jack with a raised eyebrow. “It wasn’t one of my better moments,” he conceded. “I was so drunk by the time your great-uncle got here to take me back to Hogwarts. He grounded me until I…” He trailed off, frowning deeply as he tried to remember how long he had been grounded for. “Actually I’m probably still grounded,” he murmured. “Best not remind him,” he winked down at his daughter, making her giggle.

“Are you staying for a drink?” Tom asked, dragging their attention back to him. “Now that you’re actually old enough, that is,” he added with a smirk.

Jack shook his head and squeezed Alice’s hand a little tighter. “Maybe later,” he replied, politely nodding his goodbyes to Tom, before proceeding to drag his daughter past the bar and out into the small walled courtyard, where he finally released her hand.

“I don’t like it in there,” Alice stated, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she watched Jack pull out his wand.

“You get used to it after a while,” Jack replied, smiling down at her. “Unfortunately, it’s the only way from the Muggle world into Diagon Alley.”

Alice watched in silence as Jack took a step forward, lifted his wand and tapped the brick wall before him three times in a seemingly random pattern. She frowned and was about to ask what he was doing, when the wall seemed to _groan_ and began to change shape before her eyes. “Whoa,” she whispered in awe when the wall stopped shifting and an archway was revealed. She reached out for Jack’s hand without being instructed and slowly stepped through the arch into Diagon Alley for the first time. “Dad, this is ace!” she exclaimed.

Jack glanced down at her and grinned when he saw that she was trying to look at a million different things at once. He felt a small pang of guilt inside him when he realised that everything he had taken for granted as a kid had been hidden away from his daughter. When he had moved to the Muggle world, he had sworn to himself (and Remus) that he would make sure Alice knew what she was, but he had flatly refused to rejoin the Wizarding world until he absolutely had to. As a result, Alice had never been to the centre of wizard shopping and was currently trying to pull his arm out of his socket as she looked in every window.

Suddenly, Alice released his hand and, before Jack could stop her, managed to run across the crowded cobbled street to stop in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. “Look, Dad!” she exclaimed when he joined her. “It’s a Nimbus 2000,” she added, pressing her hand against the window and inching closer as she tried to get a better look.

Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm in an attempt to pull her away from the window. “You’re not having one,” he informed her firmly, determined to stick to his decision this time. “You got a new broom for Christmas,” he reminded her. “You can wear that one out first. Besides,” he added when she looked as though she was about to try and argue with him, “you can’t even take them to Hogwarts when you’re in first year. What’s the point in getting a new one that’s just going to sit at home in the cupboard under the stairs until the summer?”

Alice scowled, but otherwise remained silent as petulantly followed him down the street to the large white building that seemed to lean to the left ever so slightly. “What’s in here?” she asked quietly, sliding her hand into his as they made their way up the marble staircase. 

He glanced down at her and smiled affectionately when he saw how nervous she looked. “This is Gringotts,” he advised her, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. “Muggles have their banks; we have ours.” He led her across the polished floor to the counter, where a small (and ugly, Alice thought) goblin was sitting high above Jack’s head. “I’d like to reactivate my account,” Jack stated, reaching up and placing the silver key before the goblin. 

The goblin stood up to his full height and stared at them so intently that it made Alice shift uncomfortably on the spot; she felt like she’d done something wrong under his gaze. Slowly, the goblin nodded and rang a bell, barking for another goblin to come forward. “We’ll be right with you, Mr Harkness,” the first goblin said, hopping down from the stool and taking a step back, to be replaced by the second goblin.

Jack smiled tightly and picked the key back up. “I think Muggles have got banks right,” Jack stated, looking down at his daughter as they moved a small distance away from the desk as they waited. “Give me a good old fashioned cash machine any day.”

“So that key’s your…”

“Bank card?” Jack finished for her with a nod of his head. “When the goblins take us down to the vault, it’ll only open for the person who has this key.”

Alice frowned deeply. “What would happen if you lost the key if or someone stole it?” she questioned, wondering what kind of security system the bank possibly have that would prevent people from stealing. 

“Did you not see the inscription over the door when we came in?” Jack asked and Alice shook her head. “It pretty much warns you that, if you’re stupid enough to steal from goblins, you deserve whatever you get in return.” He felt a gentle heat in his hand and opened his fist to reveal a key that was now gold. 

Alice followed his gaze and felt her eyes widen in surprise as she saw the colour of the key. “I’m sure that key was silver when you took it out,” she stated, looking up at her father in confusion.

Jack chuckled and nodded his head. “It was,” he assured her. “Gringotts is like any other bank – be that Muggle or Wizard; there are different account levels. Trust accounts like the one your mother left you have bronze keys. Keys for inactive accounts are silver. When the account is in use, the key becomes gold. The key was silver because I haven’t used the account since a month after we moved to the Muggle world. Now it’s gold because the goblins have reactivated it. We-,”

Before he could finish speaking, they heard a voice cry, “Jack!” 

Recognising the voice immediately, Jack grinned widely and turned to find himself with a redhead in his arms. “Donna!” he greeted, pressing a kiss against her cheek. 

“Look at you!” she gushed, taking a step back so he could study him close enough to make him squirm. Donna and her colleague Rose were two of the only people who could make him squirm as though he was still a five year old who’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t; which had happened more times than he could remember. “Last time I saw you, you were running around in your underwear causing trouble.” 

Jack rolled his eyes. “I only saw you two months ago, Donna,” he corrected.

The redhead grinned and she winked at Alice as she hugged the eleven-year-old. “Like I said,” she smirked, ducking the swat that Jack aimed at her shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” Jack asked curiously. 

“I thought I’d treat myself to a girly day,” Donna replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m meeting Martha soon, but I figured I’d be best getting some money out now. What about you?” she asked, turning her attention to Alice. “Have you managed to convince him to buy you anything fun yet?” she asked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Seeing her opportunity to possibly get what she wanted, Alice smirked and informed Donna, “I saw a new broomstick, but Dad won’t buy me it!”

Donna threw her head back and laughed loud enough that she drew a few irritated stares from a group of uptight looking witches nearby. “That’s not very nice of you, Jack Harkness,” she stated, fixing Jack with an accusatory stare.

“I… She…” Jack spluttered, his eyes widening in innocence. “You’re still not getting one,” he said firmly, determined to not let himself be bullied. 

Any argument that Alice may have been about to try on her father was interrupted by a gruff voice behind them. “Mr Harkness, if you’ll follow Griphook, he’ll take you to your vault. Miss Noble, if you’ll follow me, we will retrieve the item you require.”

Jack raised a questioning eyebrow at the goblin’s words, but Donna either didn’t notice or ignored the look as she took a step forward, hugging the wizard tightly. “You take care of yourself, Jack,” she ordered, before turning to Alice and hugging her tightly as well. “And you make sure you come see me when school starts,” she instructed, grinning at the young girl.

Alice nodded her head, knowing that Donna was the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, and waved as the redhead followed the goblin as instructed.

The Harknesses turned to follow Griphook down to the carts. “I can’t believe you told on me,” Jack muttered, sounding like a small child as he helped his daughter into the cart, before climbing in after her. “You’re such a tattle-tale.”

“No, I’m not!” Alice cried, jumping when her voice echoed off the cavernous walls around them. “I was just telling her the truth. It’s not my fault you’re mean and refused to buy your only daughter something she _really_ wanted.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “You can be such a spoilt brat sometimes,” he informed her, reaching out and tickling her ribs, making her squeal with laughter as the cart set off, taking them to the correct vault.

~

The sun had disappeared behind the clouds when they left Gringotts and Alice shivered lightly, regretting leaving her jacket at home. Jack saw the action and shrugged his own jacket off, draping it around her shoulders and earning himself a thankful smile in response. 

“Where are we going now?” Alice asked, sliding her arms through the sleeves even though they were far too long for her. 

Jack chuckled at how adorable she looked wearing his jacket, but he wasn’t stupid enough to actually comment on it. Instead, he glanced around them as he tried to work out the shop that would be best to go to first. He smiled when his eyes fell on a spooky looking shop that looked every bit as grimy as the Leaky Cauldron. “How about a wand?” he suggested, nodding to the shop. 

Alice followed his gaze and swallowed nervously. “That’s where you get wands from?” she whispered, sliding her hand into Jack’s and holding on tightly. “Isn’t there somewhere else we can get one?”

“Nope,” Jack informed, taking a step forward and leading her down the cobbled street to where the wandmaker’s was. “Davros is the best wand maker in the world. Every self respecting witch and wizard got their wand from him; even me and your mother.”

He pushed the door open, making a small bell jingle as they passed through into the building. Boxes containing wands were stacked from floor to ceiling in the most haphazard way Alice had ever seen in her life. Many of them were faded and covered in a thick layer of dust. The bell jingled again when Alice closed the door behind her, but the shop must have been deserted, she thought, when no one appeared then either. 

Silently, Jack crossed the small store and hit a bell Alice hadn’t even noticed on the desk. Even though the two previous bells had been ignored, almost as soon as Jack’s hand had hit this one, a set of ladders rolled into view. “Ah, I wondered when I’d be seeing you, Miss Harkness,” an elderly man grinned down at her from where he was several rungs up the ladder.

Alice shifted nervously and tugged at the hem of her jacket. “Erm, hi,” she replied softly, watching with bated breath as the man clambered down – surely he shouldn’t be up there when he was so old?.

Davros lifted his eyes and looked at Jack. “Mr Harkness,” he greeted. “You’ve been taking good care of that wand of yours, I hope? The same as your father’s, wasn’t it? Thirteen and a half inches, Reed with a dragon heartstring, yes?”

Alice’s head shot up in surprise as his words and she stared at Jack. Over the years, she had managed to get a few details out of him about his mother - she had been killed when he had been two years old, so he didn’t remember much – but as far as she knew, Jack had been raised by the Doctor ever since. He had never referred to his biological father once in all the years she had been alive. Alice didn’t even know his name; Maria Harkness had been his mother’s name, but she had no idea about her grandfather.

“That’s what you tell me,” Jack muttered through clenched teeth, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “But, like I said, he left just after I’d been born, so I wouldn’t know for certain.” There was a hard edge in his voice that Alice had never heard and she actually started to feel a little bit scared; she was suddenly glad that she wasn’t Davros. 

The elderly man seemed to understand that it was in his best interest to drop the subject, because he turned to Alice and began addressing her instead. “I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Miss Harkness,” he said, explaining he knew what Jack’s wand was made out of after almost twenty years. Your mother favoured a willow wand - ten and a quarter inches. Well,” he corrected himself, with a shake of his head, “I say she favoured it, when I suppose it was really the other way around.”

Alice grimaced a little as Jack’s grip on her shoulder tightened and she reached up to place her hand over his, trying to soothe whatever it was that was bugging him. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“The wand chooses the wizard – or in your case, witch – Miss Harkness,” the old man replied. “Every Davros wand has a core of a powerful magical substance,” he continued. His voice became muffled as he wandered in to the back of the shop, “We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers or, as in your father’s wand, the heartstrings of dragons.”

He returned to the front of the shop, carrying a long thin box in his hand. “Try this,” he instructed, carefully removing the lid from the box and handing her the wand inside. “Beech wood, nine inches with a dragon heartstring.”

Alice took the wand from him and looked up at her dad helplessly, not knowing what to do with it. “Give it a wave,” Jack encouraged, nudging her shoulder.

“Oh,” she murmured, waving it around in the air. Almost immediately, a nearby vase exploded and showered the floor with water and glass shards.

“Nope,” Davros muttered, snatching the wand from her before she could do more damage – while Jack used his own to clean up the mess - and placing it safely back in the box. “Try this one instead,” he ordered, setting the previous box to the side and reaching for another. “Ebony, eight and a half inches with a unicorn hair.”

She reached out and took the wand from him. The second time she needed no instruction and waved it tentatively in the air. Just as before, something in the back exploded - although, from where she was, Alice couldn’t make out what it was.

Davros frowned deeply and took the wand from her, placing it back in the box. “My, you are proving a challenge, aren’t you, Miss Harkness?” he murmured. “The last person who tried this many wands is standing right next to you,” he added, his twinkling eyes flicking over to Jack as he climbed a nearby ladder.

“I wonder,” they heard Davros whisper to himself, pausing halfway to reaching for a box. “It’s worth a try.”

They watched as he returned to them and pulled the lid from the box, before hesitating again. “Try this,” he said softly, handing the wand to Alice and folding his arms across his chest as he watched intently.

Alice gasped when she felt warmth spread through her as she took the wand from Davros. She waved the wand and felt her jaw fall open in surprise when a stream of green and silver stars flew from the tip.

She beamed up at Jack, who returned the smile, before they looked back at Davros. “I think we’ve found the right one,” Jack murmured, reaching into his pocket for some money. 

Davros nodded his head distractedly and took the wand from Alice, setting in back in the book and moving around, putting the sale through. “It’s curious,” he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

Jack scowled and leant against the counter, watching the old man carefully. “What’s curious?” he asked, pulling out the right amount of coins to buy the wand.

The shopkeeper paused and sighed, “As I said, I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr Harkness.” Jack nodded and waited for Davros to continue. “It’s curious that this,” he tapped the wand box, “should be the wand that Miss Harkness is destined for. The phoenix whose tail feather is in this wand gave another feather. Just one.”

Jack swallowed nervously and took a step back from the counter. “Whose wand is that feather in?” he demanded, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to his question.

“That’s why it’s curious.” Davros nodded his head. “It’s curious that Miss Harkness should be destined for this wand when its brother belonged to the darkest wizard of our time.”

“What?” Jack cried, making Alice jump in fright. “No. She’s not having it! Find another one. I don’t care how long it takes, I’m not buying that!”

Alice took a step forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Dad,” she whispered, looking up at him with wide blue eyes, “you heard what he said. ‘The wand chooses the witch’. Looking for another would be pointless.”

Davros nodded his head in agreement. “I’m afraid that no other wand will be perfect for Miss Harkness,” he said softly.

Jack’s jaw was set firmly and he looked like he was more than happy to spend all evening in the store, trying every wand in an attempt to prove the old man wrong. Knowing the thoughts that were running through her father’s mind, Alice sighed and squeezed his arm, diverting his attention away from Davros. “Come on, Dad,” she pleaded. “Let’s just get the wand and go home,” she added. She had been planning on asking him about his father, but even she knew that there was no way Jack would answer her questions now.

The wizard stared at her for a long moment before he nodded slowly. “Fine,” he muttered his voice and jaw still tight. “Let’s get out of here,” he added, slamming the coins down on the counter and grabbing the bag containing the wand, storming out of the shop with Alice hot at his heels.

~

  


**Journey to Hogwarts**  


The first of September came around far too quick for Jack’s liking and, as she contemplated repacking her things for the seventh time, Alice found herself agreeing with him. Every time she thought she had decided on what to take, she would find something else that she might need during the year, and had to repack everything to make it fit. Jack had humoured her, but when she tried to unpack everything an hour before they were due to leave, he had put his foot down and reminded her that if she needed or wanted anything else from home, he could send it to her using Remus’ owl.

“Dad!” Alice called up on the stairs at nine thirty that morning, when Jack still wasn’t ready. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Jack shouted back, checking his reflection in the mirror on the back of his door, before jogging down the stairs to where Alice was waiting with an impatient look on her face. “We’re not going to be late,” he added, grabbing his leather jacket from where Alice had thrown it over the banister. “It’s not going to take an hour to get from here to King’s Cross,” he reminded her. “The tube only takes fifteen minutes.”

Alice’s eyes widened in horror at his words and her jaw fell open. “We’re going on the _tube_?” she wailed, looking at her luggage in dismay. There was no way two of them could manoeuvre the trunks through the Highgate Underground station.

Jack smirked and fastened his coat. “What are you worrying about?” he asked, knowing exactly what was running through her mind.

Alice looked on the verge of tears as she indicated to her luggage. “This isn’t going to work, Dad!”

Finally deciding to take pity on her, Jack pressed a kiss to the top of her head and pulled out his wand. “I never said I didn’t have a plan,” he stated, waving his wand once. Immediately the luggage began to shrink, until all that remained were three tiny trunks on the doormat. 

“That’s showing off!” Alice muttered, bending down and picking them up. “And for that, you can carry them,” she added, stuffing them in the wizard’s pocket.

Jack laughed and grabbed his keys. “Go on then,” he instructed, opening the front door and ushering her out. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

As Jack had predicted, they got to King’s Cross Station with plenty of time to spare (even taking into account the Burger King Alice had convinced him to buy her once they’d arrived at the station). “We need to get to Platform 9 ¾,” Jack murmured, grabbing hold of Alice’s hand and pulling her through the swarm of people that had just appeared off a newly arrived train. 

“Where’s that?” Alice asked, taking a drink from her coke as she jogged a little to keep up with her father’s large strides. 

“Between platforms nine and ten,” Jack answered, turning onto the aforementioned platforms. A large grin spread across his face when he spotted two of his friends a little further down the platform and he looked down at Alice, smirking when he pressed a finger to his lips. “Can you help me get to the platform, please?” he asked in her ear.

Molly Harper let out a shriek and spun around to glare at the stranger. A smile instantly spread across her face when she saw who had actually come up behind her. “Oh, Jack!” she cried, throwing her arms around him before he could protest. “You could give someone a heart attack doing that,” she chided.

Jack grinned. “Trust me, Molly,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Your heart is in as good a condition now as it always has been.” He released her and held a hand out to her husband. “Arthur, it’s good to see you again.”

Arthur looked at the hand before rolling his eyes and pulling him into a hug as well. “You too, Jack,” he replied. “Still as much of a prankster as always, I see,” he added, clapping the other wizard on the back.

“Why break something that works?” Jack retorted, grinning from ear to ear as he listened to Arthur dive into a story about something that had happened at work the day before. It was an odd feeling, Jack thought to himself as he listened. It didn’t feel like it had been ten years since they had last seen each other. 

As Jack spoke to her husband, Molly turned to his daughter. “You must be Alice,” she said, making Alice nod wearily. 

Sensing her distrust towards the stranger, Jack broke off his conversation with Arthur and turned to Alice. “Molly, Arthur and I used to go to school together.” 

Alice smiled and relaxed at his words and murmured, “Pleased to meet you.” Although, she made no effort to hug them like her dad had done; she didn’t know them well enough to hug them. 

“It’s getting late,” a dark-haired teenage girl spoke from a few feet away. She was standing by a trolley of luggage and was wearing a sour expression on her face as she waited impatiently. Privately, Alice thought that she didn’t look like a nice person at all. “If we don’t get on the train it’ll leave without us.”

Molly glanced at her watch and let out a small exclamation of surprise when she saw the time. “Yes, you’re right. You go first, Suzie,” she instructed, nodding to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. “That way Owen can see how it’s done,” she added, placing her hand on her son’s shoulder.

“I know how it’s done!” Owen snapped, rolling his eyes and shrugging her hand off of him. “I’ve seen her do it before.”

Suzie glared at him, before walking towards the wall at a brisk pace. Alice held her breath as she watched, positive that Suzie was about to walk into the brickwork and injure herself. When she vanished into thin air, Alice couldn’t stop her jaw falling open in surprise as she stared at the spot where Suzie had vanished. She didn’t know how she had thought she would get onto Platform 9 ¾, but walking through a wall hadn’t even been on her list.

“Jack and Alice, why don’t you two go and we’ll follow?” Molly suggested, offering Alice a reassuring smile.

Jack nodded his head and reached down to take Alice’s hand in his, which she was happy about (even though she’d never admit it) – the last thing she wanted was to be stuck halfway between the Muggle and wizard platforms. “Just walk straight at the wall and don’t stop until you’re on the other side,” Jack instructed Alice. He waited until he received an understanding nod in response before they took a step forward. 

“Wait,” Arthur said suddenly, holding up a hand and stopping them in their tracks. “Where’s your luggage, Alice?” he asked, looking around for their luggage trolley.

Jack smirked and patted his pocket, making Molly roll her eyes. “You always were a show off with your magic,” she muttered with an exasperated shake of her head. “Now come on. You’d better hurry up; otherwise we’ll all miss the train.”

Together, Jack and Alice turned to face the stonework and Alice drew in a deep breath to calm her racing heartbeat. She hoped Jack was right about what she needed to do and they hadn’t changed how it worked since he had last been through the barrier – the last thing she wanted was to walk into the wall and make a fool out of herself. 

Beside them, Molly’s youngest daughter offered her a gap-toothed smile and whispered, “Good luck.” 

She nodded her head in thanks before Jack led her forward. The wall was getting closer to them and Alice screwed her eyes closed, unable to watch the disaster that was about to happen. Just when she was sure they should have hit the bricks, the screech of a steam engine sound, making her jump and her eyes flew open in surprise. The platform looked nothing like the Muggle platform they had just left; it was like Diagon Alley with so many things to see at once. 

“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Jack whispered in her ear, correctly reading the look of awe on her face. 

Alice nodded her head but didn’t stop looking around as she tried to take everything in. “Dad, why did you ever leave this place? It’s so cool!”

Jack sighed and ran a hand over the back of his neck. “That’s a long story for another time,” he whispered, his voice almost lost in the noise of the platform when a group of children nearby let out a shriek of laughter. “You need to give your luggage to the porter,” he changed the subject.

She watched as he pulled the three tiny trunks from his pockets and waved his wand, returning them to their original size. “I think he’s over here,” she said, grabbing one of the trunks – the smallest, Jack noted with amusement – and pulling it down the platform to where other students were leaving their luggage with the porter.

After dropping her luggage off, Jack glanced at the clock high above their head and saw that they still had another fifteen minutes before the train would leave. “Come on,” he murmured, dragging Alice away from the crowd so that there was no chance of their voices being overheard. 

“Dad!” Alice exclaimed. “What are you doing? The train leaves soon!”

“I know,” Jack replied, letting go of her once they were a safe distance away. “There’s something I need you to promise me before you go.” Alice frowned and raised a questioning eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t speak. “When you’re at school, you can’t tell anyone you’re…” He sighed and glanced over his shoulder in a manner that he knew was completely paranoid, but couldn’t help. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone what we really are,” he instructed.

Alice was silent for a second after Jack’s orders, before she said, “Really?”

Jack sighed and stuffed a hand into his pocket. “I know you might want to tell your friends, but… it’ll be safer for you if no-one finds out the truth,” he whispered. The expression on his face made it obvious that he didn’t like what he was asking his daughter to do.

“That’s not you talking, is it?” Alice accused, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “That’s the Doctor! I _knew_ that letter was from him!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in annoyance. “He really said I’m not allowed to tell anyone?” she asked softly, meeting Jack’s blue eyes with her own.

The wizard nodded his head and pulled his daughter into his arms. “I know it’s horrible, but… I really do think it would be safer if no-one knew the truth,” he confessed, pressing a kiss against her hair.

Alice hugged him back tightly and buried her face into his chest, memorising his scent before she headed to school. “I won’t tell anyone,” she assured him. “I promise.”

The train’s horn sounded, warning everyone on the platform that it would be leaving in two minutes, and they looked at each other in horror. “Go on,” Jack instructed. “Hurry up; otherwise you really will be coming home with me.”

She nodded her head, pulled him down so she could kiss his cheek, before she ran off down the platform and jumped into the first door that she reached. Almost as soon as the door was closed behind her, the train groaned to life and began slowly moving away from the platform.

A few minutes later, Alice was forced to admit to herself that she couldn’t see her father anymore and there was no point still waving to him as the platform disappeared around the corner. With a sigh, she leant back into the train, closed the window behind her and moved down the corridor, swaying a little as the train slowly chugged forward. She wished she could have caught a regular train up to Hogwarts – god knows it would probably be quicker – but Jack had told her that the Wizarding world had yet to upgrade from steam engines. He had also informed her that the Hogwarts Express ran on a special track that Muggles couldn’t see and was the only train that was capable of getting to the school.

Heading through the train, Alice discovered that all but one of the carriages were filled with other students who were catching up with their friends (and finishing homework, it looked like). Stopping in front of the only carriage that wasn’t full, Alice pushed the door open and cleared her throat when Owen Harper didn’t look up from the book he was reading. 

When Owen looked up in surprise, she flashed him a brilliant smile and asked, “Do you mind if I join you?” 

Owen shook his head and nodded to the seat opposite him. “Course not,” he murmured, turning his attention back to the book. 

Alice closed the door behind her and sat down, reaching into her backpack to pull out her own book. “Our parents were friends weren’t they?” Owen asked, looking up once more.

“That’s what my dad said,” she agreed with a shrug of her shoulders, dropping her bag to the floor and stretching her legs out a little. “I’m Alice,” she introduced herself. “Alice Harkness.”

“Owen Harper,” he responded, giving up his plan to read and putting the book in his bag. “You know you’re famous in our world, don’t you?”

Alice grimaced and nodded her head. Jack and Remus had warned her that some people would likely want to be friends with her because of what had happened to her mother and her when she had been a baby. “For killing a big bad Wizard or something,” she muttered with a roll of her eyes. “Voldemort or whatever his name was... What?” she asked when Owen drew in a breath of horror.

“You’re not supposed to say his name,” Owen hissed, his brown eyes glancing around in fear.

“Why?” Alice scoffed. “He’s not going to jump out and hex me for saying his name. He’s been dead for ten years; there’s nothing he can do about it now.”

They fell silent for a moment, Owen looking slightly abashed, before Alice changed the subject. Owen was her first friend at Hogwarts and she was determined that they weren’t going to focus on how famous she apparently was. “Was that your sister earlier?” she asked. “The one who wished me good luck,” she clarified, realising there had been two girls on the platform.

“Gwen,” Owen replied with a nod of his head. “She’s ten and so fed up that she has to wait until next year to go to Hogwarts. Suzie’s older than me,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “She’s in Gryffindor and a Prefect; which she loves to tell people about any chance she gets.”

“Is that what house you want to be in then?” she asked conversationally, running her fingers over the hem of her jeans. She had never really thought about what house she wanted to be in and she was suddenly realising that it was actually a pretty big deal, considering it determined where you would live for most of the next seven years.

The young boy shrugged his shoulders. “Mum and Dad were both Gryffindors and so is Suzie. I think if I end up anywhere else, everyone’s going to be disappointed.”

Alice frowned deeply. “You only want to be in Gryffindor so that people aren’t disappointed? Won’t they be happy for you, regardless of where you get placed?” she asked, trying to make it sound like she wasn’t judging her new friends family, when she really was.

“I don’t know,” Owen responded with a small shrug of his shoulders. He leant down and reached into his bag. “Do you know how to play Exploding Snap?” he asked, pulling out a pack of cards.

Alice grinned and jumped up, moving so she was sat on the bench seat next to Owen. “Of course,” she retorted, folding her legs underneath her as Owen carefully dealt the cards. “Dad says I cheat, but he’s jealous because I’m better at it than he is.”

Several hours later they were tied at six games each and were about to start their thirteenth game, when the door slid open and a middle-aged witch smiled down at them from the doorway. “Anything off the trolley, dears?” she questioned, indicating to the sweet trolley at the side of her.

Mouth watering at the thought of all the delicious Wizarding treats that awaited her, Alice nodded and got to her feet, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the money Jack had given her for the journey. “I’ll have two of everything,” she grinning at the witch.

Owen’s eyes widened in surprise at her words, but the witch with the trolley didn’t even act as though Alice had requested anything odd, she simply nodded and went about collecting the treats Alice had asked for. “You must be hungry,” Owen muttered, reaching into his bag for a sandwich that looked suspiciously like corned beef.

“I am,” Alice agreed paying the witch and taking the food from her. “But they’re not all for me. We’re sharing,” she added, dumping the sweets between them and wincing when a card from the exploding snap set blew up.

The older woman smiled at her words and shook her head. “Just like your mother,” she whispered, closing the door behind her and continuing her way down the train.

“That’s going to take some getting used to,” Alice commented, sitting back down and rummaging through the sweets.

“What is?” Owen frowned, picking up a packet of ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’, eyeing them warily before shrugging his shoulders and pulling the packaging open.

Grabbing a Chocolate Frog, Alice answered, “I’m not used to people commenting on me being like my mother.” She opened the frog, caught the frog and bit its head off in the blink of an eye before it could get too far away. “I always get remarks about how much I’m like my dad, but no one at home knew my mum.”

“Where do you live?” Owen asked curiously, popping a bean in his mouth and grimacing at the taste. “Snot,” he explained at Alice’s curious expression.

Alice scowled and stuck her tongue out. “Those are disgusting,” she muttered, pulling the Famous Witch or Wizard card from the chocolate frog packaging. “Highgate in London,” she answered his question.

Owen’s eyes widened and his hand paused halfway to his mouth. “Really?” he whispered. “You live in the Muggle world?” Alice nodded, wondering if all wizards would react the same way to them living with Muggles. “That’s so cool,” Owen gushed. “Although, you best hope my dad doesn’t find out. He’s obsessed with Muggles; you’d get sick of him asking questions every five seconds.”

Alice laughed and flicked the card in her hands over, hoping it was someone she didn’t already have. She groaned and rolled her eyes when she saw the image on the front; like she needed another card with the Doctor on it.

Owen saw the action and frowned. “Someone you’ve already got?” he asked, leaning up and trying to see the card she was holding.

“Yeah,” she answered, flicking the card over at him, nodding in approval when he caught it. “You can have him if you want; I’ve already got it.”

He turned the card over and grinned. “I’ve been trying to get this card for _months_ ,” he stated, sliding the card into a front pocket of his bag. 

Alice chuckled. “It’s a shame I haven’t known you longer. We had a whole pile of them for ages, but my dad gave the Doctor a handful when he left a couple of weeks ago,” Alice said without thinking, reaching for a liquorice wand. “Dad told him we’ve got enough cards of him and he should give them to his fans.”

Owen’s mouth fell open in surprise as he gaped at her. “You _know_ the Doctor?” he asked, awe in his voice.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “He’s my dad’s uncle,” she muttered, cursing herself for not thinking before she mentioned it. “It’s not a big deal,” she added softly. “Him and my dad don’t even get along. Can you… can you not tell anyone?” she asked, looking Owen in the eye.

The young boy shook his head. “I won’t tell a soul,” he swore, awe still obvious in his voice and Alice flashed him a grateful smile. She had a feeling her and Owen were going to be pretty good friends.

~

  


**The Sorting Ceremony**  


It was nightfall when the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station and, even though she was starving, Alice wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and go to sleep. The train journey had been fun until the last hour when both her and Owen had gotten bored, and had begun counting down the time until they would potentially arrive at the school. Unfortunately, she knew that they had to be sorted before that could happen – even if she didn’t know _how_ they would determine which house they would end up in. 

Once the train had come to a stop, the doors opened and students began to file onto the platform. As she followed Owen, Alice felt worry swell inside her when she realised that she had no idea how they were expected to get from the train station to the castle they could barely see in the distance.

Her worries were silenced when she heard a familiar voice shout, “Oi, you lot, first years, over here!” Alice looked in the direction the voice was coming from and grinned widely when she saw Donna standing on a bench holding a bright lantern and waving them over with her free hand.

“You alright, Alice?” Donna grinned down as Alice and Owen made their way over. “Don’t forget to come see me,” she reminded her.

“I won’t,” Alice promised, crossing her heart and smiling at her father’s friend. 

Donna nodded happily and looked around, quickly counting how many first years were surrounding her. When she was satisfied that she had the correct number of people, she called, “Okay! Follow me, everyone. The boats will take us to the castle and you can all get sorted.” She jumped down off the bench and marched down the platform, only looking over her shoulder to make sure they were following once as she made her way to a large lake where a bunch of boats were waiting.

“All aboard,” she grinned, stepping to the side and watching as they climbed into the boats. “Oi!” she cried, making everyone around her jump in surprise. They all turned to see her pointing to a bunch of six students who were trying to pile into the same boat. “No more than four per boat,” she ordered. “Unless you want to be food for the giant squid?”

The six students all looked at each other in horror, before shaking their heads and quickly splitting into two smaller groups. When she was happy that they were all seated, Donna climbed into a boat of her own and they slowly began making their way towards the castle. As the boats moved through the water, all Alice could hear around were people making noises of awe and she had to admit that she was just as mesmerised by the sight of the castle on the hill as the rest of them. It really was a gorgeous building and she couldn’t wait to explore it. As they got closer, she wondered what it must have been like for her dad to _grow up_ in the castle, and she was in the process of making a mental note to ask him when the boat stopped and pushed the thought out of her head.

“Okay,” Donna said, jumping from her boat. “Everyone out.” Carefully, they clambered onto dry land once more (only a few of them needed help from Donna when their boat rocked precariously). When they were all in front of her, Donna turned on her heel and let out a yelp of surprise. “Oi, you!” she called, bending down and picking something up, before turning to a nearby boy. “Is this your toad?” she asked.

“Oh, sorry,” the boy breathed, rushing forward and collecting his pet from the redhead.

“Keep your eye on him; I nearly stood on him,” she advised him, before clapping her hands and getting back on track. “Right, follow me. Make sure you keep up; don’t want anyone to get lost down here.”

Alice and the rest of the first years headed up the stone steps that led from the lake to the castle. Before they had even reached the top, the door swung open and a blond witch wearing scarlet robes stepped through them, stopping at the top of the stairs as the doors closed behind her. She waited at the top of the stairs until the first years reached her, although none of them except Alice acknowledged her presence – which earned her a small smile in response, before the teacher’s stoic mask was back in place. 

“Your first years, Professor Tyler,” Donna stated, handing her a scroll that Alice hadn’t even realised she’d been holding. 

Rose glanced down at the parchment in her hand, her eyes skimming over the writing it contained, before nodding her head. “Thank you, Donna. I’ll take them from here.”

Donna flashed Rose a quick grin and stepped past the students, opening one of the large doors. As the doors opened, each first year tried to see what was on the other side, but all they could see was inky blackness. She glanced over at Alice and winked at her, mouthing ‘good luck’, before disappearing out of sight when the doors closed behind her.

As soon as the doors were closed and Rose was sure she had the students’ attention, she began to speak, “Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly. But before you can join your classmates, we have to sort you into your houses.”

Alice swallowed nervously at Rose’s mention of being sorted. She had tried to get Jack to tell her how they did it for months, but the Wizard refused to say anything; even Remus wouldn’t tell her. “As soon as the other students are seated, the sorting ceremony will begin. I suggest you take the time until then to smarten yourselves up as much as you can.” Her gaze flickered over to a boy who was standing a few feet away from Alice; his cloak was askew and there was a dark smudge across the left side of his face. “I will be back in a few minutes,” she added, turning on her heel and heading back to the door Donna had disappeared through.

“How do you think they sort us?” Alice asked softly, looking at Owen who was standing on the opposite side to the boy with the smudge on his face.

Owen finished off the last few Every Flavour Beans and screwed the packet up. He glanced around for somewhere to put it, before shrugging and stuffing it in his pocket. “Not a clue,” he replied, grimacing at the taste of a particularly vile bean. “And no one I know will tell me either. Did you ask your dad how they do it?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I tried, but he wouldn’t say a word. It’s like there’s some kind of big surprise or something.”

“My brother told me that they make you wrestle a troll,” someone said from behind them.

To her left, a sour looking blond boy scoffed and shook his head. “Please,” he muttered with a roll of his eyes. “Wrestling a troll? That’s ridiculous.”

As one, the first years turned to look at him, but Alice appeared to be the only one who was brave enough to actually speak. “And you are?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded him. Now that she could see him properly, she noticed that his hair was whiter than it was blond, and his face was thin and angular. 

“Malfoy. Draco Malfoy,” he introduced himself, pushing himself away from the wall and extending his hand to Alice.

For a second, Draco dropped the sour expression and Alice had a glimpse of what she immediately recognised as an eleven year old, who wanted to be her friend. She hesitated for a second longer, before placing her hand in his and shaking it firmly. “Alice Harkness,” she replied, releasing his hand and shoving her own back in her pocket. Her palm had started tingling as soon as she’d touched Draco’s skin and it was an odd feeling that she didn’t like and couldn’t explain.

Before Draco could say anything further – or react to her name - the door opened again and Rose returned. “We’re ready for you now,” she informed them, turning on her heel and leading them into the castle. 

Silently, the first years followed Rose – many of them were too mesmerised by the moving paintings on the wall to even speak. After a few minutes walking, Rose paused in front of another set of large doors and glanced over her shoulder. After making sure that they were all present and accounted for, she pushed the doors open and the first years drew in a gasp as one. The Great Hall was _beautiful_ , Alice thought as they slowly made their way down the centre of the four tables that took up the majority of the room. She had never believed such grandeur and magic could fit in one room, not to mention how many people there seemed to be. Even in Jack’s stories about going to school there, it hadn’t sounded so fantastic.

Rose led them down to the front of the hall where they stopped in front of the teacher’s table that ran across the width of the room. Alice grinned when she saw Donna sitting beside a good looking teacher who appeared to be the same age as her dad. Donna felt her gaze on her and she turned her head towards her, grinning when she saw Alice. Beside her, the male teacher did the same thing; his eyes widening in surprise when he saw her. Donna gave him a quick wink, before turning back to the other Professor and continuing their conversation. The other professor’s eyes only stayed on her a second longer than Donna, but it was long enough for Alice to feel uncomfortable and wonder what he was looking at.

The sound of Rose’s footsteps on the platform pulled her attention away from the teacher and Alice focused on the old hat that the blonde had placed on top of an ancient looking three-legged stool. The first years all jumped in surprise when the hat moved and it began to sing loudly – it even appeared to have a mouth. Alice looked around in alarm to make sure that someone was going to do something about the possessed hat, but no-one appeared to be the least bit concerned. If anything, it looked as though they had been expecting and looking forward to the song.

When it was finished, Rose stepped forward and unfurled the scroll Donna had handed her earlier. “When I call your name, you will put the hat on, sit on the stool and be sorted,” she instructed them, glancing at the first name on the list.

From somewhere behind her, Alice heard someone whisper, “Is that it?” 

The words made their first years snigger, but Rose didn’t react as she called, “Abbott, Hannah.”

A pink-faced girl stumbled forward from the group, her pigtails swinging with every movement that she made. Carefully, she sat on the stool and Rose gently dropped the hat to her head. A long period of silence followed and Alice had the fleeting thought that maybe the hat was broken, until it opened its large cloth mouth and shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF!” loud enough to rattle the stained glass in the windows.

The table to the right of the hall erupted with cheers as Hannah pulled the hat off and practically ran over to join them. Susan Bones also became a Hufflepuff. While Terry Boot was the first person to become a Ravenclaw; resulting in cheering from the second table on the left. Lavender Brown became a Gryffindor, and Alice could see Owen’s sister sitting at the table on the far left of the room, looking as unimpressed as she had earlier that day. 

As Rose got further and further down her list, Alice started to feel stage fright building in her stomach at the thought of sitting in front of a room full of strangers as she waited for a hat to place her. What if it didn’t think she belonged in any of the houses? Would it send her home, embarrass her in front of the entire school?

Her attention was diverted away from her increasingly nervous thoughts when she spotted the door behind the teacher’s table opening and the familiar figure of an incredibly thin man slipped through, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Even though she was still annoyed with him after what Jack had told her that morning, she felt a grin spread over her face despite herself and some of the nervousness began to slip away. 

“Harkness, Alice,” Rose called, effectively managing to stun the room into silence. 

Alice swallowed nervously and made her way up onto the stage, amid whispers of people wondering if she was _the_ Alice Harkness. Rose and the Doctor both offered her encouraging smiles as she tentatively sat down on the stool, before the hat was placed on her head and everything went black.

“Ah,” the hat said. “I’ve been wondering if I’d be seeing you this year, Miss Harkness. You certainly have your father’s unique abilities,” the hat mused and Alice hoped the rest of the school couldn’t hear what it was saying; that would break her great-uncle’s rule completely. “But you’ve also got your mother’s intelligence. Ravenclaw would suit you well.” A flicker of doubt crossed Alice’s mind and the hat let out a sinister chuckle. “You don’t think you’re clever enough to be a Ravenclaw, do you?” It continued before she had a chance to reply, “Not to worry, I don’t think you would benefit from being in Ravenclaw. I think you’ll be best suited in… SLYTHERIN!” the last word was shouted to the entire room.

If Alice had thought it had been quiet when Rose had called her name, it was nothing compared to the silence that hung in the air as she pulled the hat off. There were a few tense seconds, before the Slytherin table erupted with cheers and clapping. She glanced nervously over her shoulder at the Doctor, who grinned and winked, before she let out the breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding. If the Doctor was okay with her being in Slytherin, then she would be okay there, she thought, jumping off the stool and heading over to her house table. As she passed Owen, she couldn’t help but notice the dejected look on her new friend’s face; it was obvious that he thought they were going to be split up.

Less than a minute later, Owen was called up to be sorted and Alice waited with baited breath until the hat exclaimed, “SLYTHERIN!”

Alice joined in the cheering and clapping as Owen sat in the seat next to her with a dazed expression on his face. “Why do you look so stunned?” she whispered as the sorting continued.

Owen blinked, almost as though he hadn’t realised he was sitting next to Alice. “What?” he murmured. “Oh, nothing,” he said. “It’s just a shock. I was expecting to be a Gryffindor,” he confessed, his eyes flickering over to Suzie.

Alice followed his gaze and was amazed to see that Owen’s older sister was glaring at him darkly, as though he had purposely chosen to be in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. “She can’t blame you, surely?” Alice whispered. 

The young boy shrugged his shoulders. “She looks pretty mad,” Owen whispered, just as Draco Malfoy joined their table; Alice noticed that he didn’t look surprised at all. 

When everyone was sorted, the Doctor got to his feet and the hall fell silent out of respect. He was beaming at the entire school. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts,” he greeted. “Before we get started with our delicious banquet, there are a few messages I need to pass on. As always, all students should note that the forest in the grounds is strictly forbidden. Also, I’ve been asked by our caretaker, Mr Filch, to remind you that no magic is allowed in the corridors between classes. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term for all those in their second year and above. Anyone interested in playing should contact Madame Cassandra.”

The Doctor looked around at them for a long moment before adding, “And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death.” He paused for long enough to let his message sink in, before he clapped his hands once and immediately food appeared in the centre of the table. 

As the Doctor sat down, seemingly oblivious to the confused and terrified expressions on the students’ faces, Owen turned to Alice with wide eyes. “He’s joking, right?” Even Draco turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow and a panicked expression on his face.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t look like he is,” she murmured, reaching out and piling food onto her plate. “He looks serious to me,” she added, glancing at the Doctor and wondering what was so important about the third floor that meant they couldn’t go there.

~

  


**Myfanwy**  


Alice awoke with a start and looked around her in alarm, wondering where she was and why the room around her didn’t look like her bedroom. She let out of a sigh of relief when she saw her school uniform lying across a chair and remembered that she was at Hogwarts and safely tucked up in her bed in the Slytherin dormitories. 

Falling back against the pillows with a relieved sigh, she glanced around her at the dorm room she was sharing with the other Slytherin girls in her year. She had been horrified to find out that the common room and dormitories for Slytherin house were in the dungeons of the castle. Surely it would be cold and damp down there? One look at her classmates face had told her that they felt the same. They had all, therefore, been pleasantly surprised when the common room was warm and dry; as were their bedrooms.

After a while of lying in bed doing nothing, she started to get bored and decided to get dressed and see if she could find her way to breakfast; the watch on her bedside table told her that it was almost seven in the morning, so she figured breakfast would likely be ready. As it was the first day of classes, she pulled on the robes emblazoned with the Slytherin crest that had somehow appeared in the middle of the night and glanced at herself in the mirror, jumping when it welcomed her to the school. 

Being constantly surrounded by magic would certainly take some getting used to, she thought to herself as she grabbed her cloak and headed out of the room; she would return for her books once she knew what classes they had that day.

Owen and Draco were waiting impatiently for her at the bottom of the stairs. She was surprised that Draco was waiting for her. They had talked a little at dinner the night before, but she had gotten the impression that he didn’t want friends. Clearly Owen had managed to change his mind somehow, or they had bonded in the dormitory the previous night. “Come on, Harkness,” Draco sighed, spotting Alice and glancing at his pocket watch before sighing impatiently. “Some of us would like to get breakfast before lessons start.”

Alice rolled her eyes and pushed past them, heading for the door. “Well, I’m here now, so you can stop being a whiny little baby,” she retorted, shaking her head as they headed towards the Great Hall. 

The Great Hall wasn’t as full as it had been the night before – most of the students were probably still in bed, Alice mused – so finding a seat at the Slytherin table wasn’t a problem. They had barely been sat down for two seconds, when their head of house – Professor Hart, Alice’s brain reminded her – handed them a piece of parchment. One look told them it was their class timetables. 

“Don’t lose them,” Hart ordered sharply, continuing down the table. “You won’t get another one if you do.”

Owen glared at his retreating back for a long moment, before looking down at the paper in dismay. “I’ll have to copy this out tonight,” he muttered. “There’s no way I won’t lose it.”

Alice rolled her eyes, glancing at the timetable to see that they had History of Magic first thing, before folding it up and sliding it into the pocket of her robes. “You could always memorise it?” she suggested. “You wouldn’t have anything to worry about then.”

Whatever reply Owen had been about to say was interrupted by a screech coming from above them, and Alice looked up to see dozens of owls flying through windows that were so high Alice hadn’t even noticed them. 

“Post’s here,” Draco commented idly, not looking up as he poured so much sugar into his porridge it made Alice’s teeth hurt just watching. “I’ll need to write to my father and tell him what house I got into,” he added as an afterthought. “Not that he’ll be surprised. My whole family has been in Slytherin.”

Owen grimaced at Draco’s mention of telling his family. “I’m not looking forward to telling my mum and dad I’m not in Gryffindor,” he murmured, stabbing a sausage on his plate with far more force than was necessary.

Alice rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see what the big deal is. My dad was a Slytherin, his best friend was a Gryffindor and my mum was a Ravenclaw. They never-,” She broke off when a tawny owl landed at her elbow and she let out a shriek of surprise, startling the bird almost as much as it had scared her. “Shoo!” she instructed, trying to bat the bird away.

Stubbornly the owl didn’t move and Alice raised a questioning eyebrow at her friends. “What’s going on?” she demanded, looking at them with suspicion in her eyes. Both Owen and Draco shrugged their shoulders, looking at her with clueless expressions on her face.

“I think she dropped this, Miss Harkness,” a Welsh-accented voice said from behind Alice.

The young girl turned around and found herself face to face with the teacher who had unnerved her the night before. She looked down at his hand and saw that he was holding an envelope with her name on it. “Oh,” she murmured, taking the card from him when he offered it. “Thank you, Professor…” she trailed off, blushing when she realised that she didn’t know his name.

“Ianto Jones,” he supplied with a smile, which Alice returned with a small one of her own. “I think she looks like a ‘Myfanwy’,” he added, running his index finger over the back of the owl’s neck, making her preen happily under the attention she was receiving. “It means ‘lady’ in Welsh.” He grinned at them before saying goodbye and continuing down the length of the table, heading to Donna who sat the head table and watching Jones with a sad expression on her face.

Alice wondered what Donna could be sad about, but shrugged the thought off and tore the envelope open, pulling out a piece of parchment. “‘Because every witch deserves her own owl’,” she read before her jaw fell open in shock. “She’s mine,” she stated, looking at the owl that was waiting to be fed some breakfast.

“You’re serious?” Owen asked, his eyes wide as they watched the bird hop across the table and steal a piece of bread from the plate in between them.

Draco, who had been trying to pretend he wasn’t interested, finally gave up and looked up from his breakfast. “Who’s it from, your dad?” he asked, shoving a spoonful of porridge into his mouth.

Alice shook her head. “That’s not Dad’s writing,” she informed them. “But, it does look familiar,” she muttered, trying to remember where she had seen the handwriting before. Her jaw fell open in surprise when the penny dropped and she finally realised. She looked up sharply and glanced down at the teacher’s table. As she had expected, the Doctor was looking in her direction and when their gazes met he winked and quirked a smile at her.

Draco frowned and followed her gaze. “The Doctor?” he hissed in surprise, turning back to stare at Alice. “The _Doctor_ gave you an owl? Why would he do that?”  
Alice and Owen’s eyes met, both of them smirking before Alice turned back to the blond. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she stated.

“Try me,” Draco challenged, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at the witch.

She shrugged her shoulders. “He’s my great-uncle.” Her tone was very simple and matter-of-fact; although, she did lower it to make sure no one else heard.  
Draco stared at her, an expression of disbelief on his face. “You’re right. I don’t believe you,” he muttered, making Alice and Owen roll their eyes in exasperation.

~

  


**Early Morning Wake Up**  


The sunlight streaming through the window woke Jack up far earlier than he was sure was legal; especially for a Saturday morning. He groaned and lifted the covers over his head, burying further into the soft blankets and the warm body he could feel spooned against his back. Blearily he opened his eyes and turned his head to the side, smiling when he saw that Remus was still asleep and oblivious to the fact that Jack was awake and getting irritated by the lack of black out curtains over the window. 

He licked his lips, already forming a plan in his mind about how he could wake Remus up, and rolled over, leaning forward to put that plan into action. Before he could get close enough to press their lips together, an impatient knocking on the glass caught Jack’s attention and he huffed in annoyance, making Remus twitch in his sleep and bat him away as he continued sleeping. Jack laughed softly and rolled over to face the window, sighing when he saw a tawny owl sitting on the window ledge. He wished he was good enough at Charms so that he could enchant the neighbours to make sure they didn’t notice the large number of owls that regularly arrived at his house. 

Pushing back the covers, Jack got to his feet and crossed the room, opening the window and stepping to the side. The bird immediately took the invitation and flew into the room, squawking in irritation at being kept waiting as it landed on Jack’s chest of drawers, and fixed him with an irritated glare.

“You can go now,” Jack informed the bird, taking the letter and glancing down at the front. He smiled when he saw that it was from Alice, but scowled when he looked up and saw that the owl hadn’t moved an inch. “Go.” He glared at the owl when it stubbornly remained in its place. “Fine,” he huffed, “stay there. See if I care. I’m not feeding you.”

He turned back to the bed, intending to climb back under the covers and read, but paused when he saw that Remus was now fully awake, and watching him with an amused smile on his face. “What?” Jack demanded defensively, moving the rest of the distance to the bed. 

“It’s not every day that I wake up to find you arguing with a bird,” Remus teased, grunting when Jack hit him in the face with a pillow. “Is that from Alice?” he asked, spotting the letter in Jack’s hand as the other man settled back on the bed.

Jack nodded his head. “It’s her handwriting. That must be a school owl,” he mused, flicking his eyes back over to the owl that was still staring at them with – Jack was certain of it – suspicious eyes.

“I don’t know,” Remus murmured, following Jack’s gaze. “I don’t remember them being that well fed when we were at school.”

Jack shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t speak as he tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out. “She got into Slytherin,” he stated, reading the first line of the letter.

“That’s not a surprise,” Remus commented, leaning against Jack’s side and yawning widely. “She’s more like you than she is her mother.”

“She’s intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw, though,” Jack murmured. “I just hoped she’d get in there rather than Slytherin.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Stop being so hypocritical and keep reading,” he instructed, poking Jack in the side.

Jack tapped two fingers to his temple in a salute, before turning his attention back to the letter. A few moments later he sighed heavily and shook his head. “Wonderful,” he drawled.

“What now?” Remus asked warily, the tone of his voice making it obvious that he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Jack was going to say next.

“Hart’s a teacher there,” Jack answered, gritting his teeth as he rolled his eyes. “You just know that bastard will do everything he can to make her life miserable.”

Remus rolled his own eyes and placed a hand on Jack’s arm, trying to soothe the other man’s irritation. “I don’t think he will,” he argued. At Jack’s incredulous look, he winced and corrected himself, “Well, not _everything_ he can, at least. He’s head of Slytherin now; if he punishes her too severely it’ll make him look bad too.”

Jack nodded distractedly; he had already turned his attention back to Alice’s letter. “Professor Ianto…” he read out loud, seconds before his head shot up and he shifted so he could glare at Remus. “You said he worked for the Ministry,” he accused. 

“No,” Remus stated slowly, pushing himself into an upright position. “I didn’t actually say where he worked. You were the one that assumed he hadn’t changed jobs since the last time you saw him. He’s Charms teacher at Hogwarts.”

“I know that now!” Jack snapped, looking back down at Alice’s letter. “She calls him Professor Jones,” he whispered. “He’s using his mother’s name.”

Remus snorted with laughter. “Wouldn’t you with a family like that?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose,” he murmured, running his fingers over the other man’s name where it was written on the parchment. “I just never thought he’d live to be ashamed of his family,” he added. “He was always the only one of us that had a stable family outside of school.”

Remus sighed and placed a gentle hand under Jack’s chin, turning his head so that they were facing each other. “Times change, Jack,” he reminded his best friend. “Now, reply to Alice and get rid of the owl,” he instructed, throwing back the covers and climbing out of the bed. “I’ll make us some tea,” he added, not making any effort to cover up as he moved across the room – there was nothing he had that Jack hadn’t already seen plenty of times before.

Just as he reached the door, he heard an exclamation from the bed and Remus turned to look at Jack, who was glaring at the owl again. “What’s wrong now?” Remus sighed heavily. “The bird comment on the size of your-?”

“It’s Alice’s,” Jack stated slowly. 

Remus frowned deeply. “I thought she didn’t want an owl,” he said, recalling the conversation they had had just before Alice had gone back to school. Jack nodded his head, confirming that Remus was correct in his recall of her not wanting a pet. “Where did it come from then?” he questioned.

The other wizard’s eyes darkened dangerously and he looked up at his friend. “The Doctor,” he muttered furiously.

~

  


**Flying Lessons**  


If Alice had to listen to Draco complain about not being able to bring his own broomstick from home one more time, she was positive she’d end up killing him. He had been talking about it since they had spotted a notice in the common room, telling them that Madame Cassandra was holding flying lessons for the first years on the fourth Thursday in September. Privately, Alice agreed with Draco; she didn’t understand why they were offered flying lessons when they weren’t allowed to take a broom to school with them. 

In the end, the trio decided to attend the classes because it gave them an excuse to fly. “How many of them do you reckon are Muggle born?” Draco asked under his breath, glancing at the Gryffindors opposite him as they stood waiting for Madame Cassandra to start their lesson.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “About half, I reckon,” she answered. “We’ll find out soon,” she added when she saw their teacher heading towards them. That was another reason they decided to take flying lessons; to show off in front of the Muggle-borns who hadn’t used a broom for anything other than sweeping before. 

Draco sniggered, before falling silent quickly. “Good afternoon,” Madame Cassandra greeted, walking past the first years, before coming to a stop at the end. “Welcome to your first flying lesson,” she added, pulling a pair of black gloves on. “Well, what are you waiting for?” she questioned when no one moved to pick up the school brooms in front of them. “Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Stick your right hand over the broom and say ‘up’.”

One look over at Draco told Alice that he was trying very hard to not roll his eyes when the other students exchanged excited glances, before following Madame Cassandra’s instructions. Alice had to bite the inside of her cheek when none of their brooms even twitched at their commands.

Feeling more than a little smug and not even slightly bad for what she was about to do, she held her own hand steady over the broom and clearly said, “Up.” Almost before the word had even left her mouth, the broom jumped into her palm – an action which earned her more than a few envious gazes from her fellow students.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw Draco’s broom shoot into his hand and she turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Show off,” he muttered, rolling his eyes when he saw the smug expression on his friend’s face.

Alice shrugged unrepentantly before turning her eyes to the rest of the class who were still having trouble getting their brooms to co-operate with them. Even Owen was finding it hard to get a broom that wasn’t his to follow his instruction, Alice noted with a small chuckle to herself.

“Up!” Owen was ordering firmly, glaring down at the broomstick for daring to defy him after such a clear command. Nothing happened so he repeated the instruction with a lot more force than was strictly necessary, making the broom fly up too fast for Owen to catch it before it hit him in the nose, making Draco and Alice laugh so much they had to hold onto each other to stop themselves from falling over. 

Owen glared at them and rubbed his nose, wincing at the pain that shot across his face. “Shut up,” he grumbled, muttering under his breath about how he could have broken his nose.

Fifteen minutes later – during which time the three of them had long since gotten bored and started talking amongst themselves - all the other students were holding their brooms (even if some of them had even resorted to manually picking them up). 

“Now, I want you to mount it. Grip it tight,” Cassandra instructed, looking around at them intently. “We don’t want you sliding off the end. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady; hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down.”

Madame Cassandra lifted a silver whistle to her lips. “On my whistle. Three… Two…” Before she could finish her countdown, a Gryffindor opposite Alice began to lift off from the ground, making everyone jump and a Japanese Ravenclaw student instruct ‘Rhys’ to come back down. Alice rolled her eyes – if he couldn’t control himself enough to set off when he was supposed to, the odds were that he couldn’t control it well enough to come back down either.

Collectively, the class let out a cry of horror when the broom bucked and threw Rhys to the waiting ground below. “Out of my way!” Madame Cassandra instructed, running across the grass and pushing her way through the crowd that had gathered around the Gryffindor where he had landed. 

Rhys let out a cry of pain when the flying teacher carefully helped him stand up. “Oh you poor boy,” she murmured. “It’s a broken wrist.”

She led him through the crowd, which parted like the red sea. “Everyone is to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr Williams to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single boom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say ‘Quidditch’.”

They watched as Madame Cassandra and Rhys disappeared into the school. “Did you see the look on his face?” a voice said, catching Alice’s attention.

She looked around and saw a fellow Slytherin – Theodore Nott – standing a few feet away, holding a tennis ball shaped object that appeared to be made out of glass in his hand. “That’s a Rememberall,” Draco whispered under his breath – not that Alice had any idea what one of those was.

“Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze,” Nott continued, earning him a snigger from Crabbe and Goyle who were stood a few steps behind each shoulder.

“Come on, Nott,” Alice said, sighing and taking a step forward. “Leave it.”

Nott turned and regarded her with an amused expression. “Or what? You’ll tell on me to Cassandra?” He rolled his eyes and tossed the Rememberall up and down. Alice’s eyes followed its movement and for a moment she considered just snatching it out of the air; but as quickly as the idea arrived, she pushed it to the side – she wasn’t sure she’d be able to catch it and didn’t want to risk breaking it.

“I’ll do more than tell her,” Alice promised, gritting her teeth; although, what she was thought she would do, she had no idea.

Nott snorted with laughter and looked down at the Rememberall. “I think you’re right. I should leave it somewhere for Williams to find.” He mounted the broomstick. “How about on the roof?” he added, flying off. “What’s the matter, Harkness?” he scoffed, seeing that Alice hadn’t moved. “Bit beyond your reach?”

Alice scowled and got on her own broom. Before she could take off, Draco stalked over to her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “Cassandra told us to not go anything. Are you trying to get yourself expelled?” The young witch didn’t answer him as she took off after Nott. “You’re an idiot, Harkness!” Draco shouted after her. “I hope she breaks her neck; it would serve her right,” he muttered to Owen who was standing next to him, although it was obvious that he didn’t believe what he was saying.

Up in the air, Alice flew over to Nott and held her hand out. “Give it here, Nott,” she instructed, holding her hand out to the other Slytherin. “Or I’ll knock you off your broom,” she threatened. 

Nott raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” Alice growled and lunged for him, forcing him to serve to the side in order to avoid being knocked off his broom. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Have it your way then.”

Before Alice could react, Nott pulled his arm back and threw the Rememberall in the opposite direction. Alice didn’t even hesitate as she followed the object as it hurtled through the air. “Come on,” she urged the broom. The speed it was moving at (or lack thereof) made her wish that she had her StarFlash from home; it was so much faster.

On the ground Draco and Owen watched with bated breath as Alice pursued the Rememberall. They – and the rest of the class – cheered when she caught it seconds before it flew through a window. “How the hell did she manage to catch that?” Draco whispered in awe.

Owen shrugged his shoulders. “Not a clue,” he answered, running over to their friend when she landed. 

“Miss Harkness!” a very familiar voice interrupted the congratulatory pats on the back and making them all freeze in horror. 

~

  


**A Charming Intervention**  


Alice swallowed nervously, knowing who was standing behind her, before she slowly turned on her heel to find herself face to face with Slytherin’s head of house, who looked positively furious. “Professor Hart-,” she began trying to plead her case. 

The head of Slytherin raised a hand, cutting her off before she could say anything further. “Follow me,” Hart instructed coldly, turning and stalking away from her without saying another word.

Alice winced and exchanged a glance with Draco and Owen before placing the broom on the ground, following him across the grass and back into the castle. “Where was Madame Cassandra?” Hart demanded over his shoulder as they moved down through the castle.

“Taking Williams to the hospital wing,” Alice answered with a sigh.

They turned a corridor and Alice knew they were heading for the dungeons where Hart’s office was; she was in trouble for sure. “I’m sure she must have told you all to stay on the ground.”

“Nott was flying as well!” Alice snapped, letting her temper get the better of her.

Hart stopped walking and turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Nott wasn’t the one I saw in the air,” he told her. “You’re just like your father. No regard for any one’s rules but your own,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and turning away from her again.

Alice’s eyes flashed sapphire and she glared at Hart’s back. “Don’t talk about my dad like that,” she growled low in her throat.

At her tone, Hart stopped and slowly turned around to face her once more. “Do not presume to tell me what to do, Miss Harkness. You’re forgetting that I am your teacher and head of…”

“Is there something wrong?” a Welsh accented voice asked from behind the corridor to Alice’s right and they both turned to see Professor Jones walking towards them with a troubled expression on his face.

“Nothing important,” Hart shrugged his shoulders as Jones reached them.

Jones raised an eyebrow, clearly telling Hart that he didn’t believe a word the other man was saying. “I don’t know,” he argued. “It looked pretty intense.”

When Hart met Jones’ gaze Alice couldn’t help but notice that her head of house’s expression softened slightly; not much, but enough to make him look less murderous. “Miss Harkness here was flying about unsupervised,” he eventually muttered through clenched teeth as he threw a glare at Alice.

Jones looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. “That’s a little dangerous, isn’t it?” he asked calmly.

Somehow Jones had the unnatural ability to make Alice feel like she’d personally betrayed him by flying without permission and it wasn’t long that she was squirming uncomfortably under his gaze. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered, looking down at the ground.

“Are you planning on banning her from flying lessons from the rest of the year?” Jones ventured a guess, shifting his gaze back to Hart.

Hart nodded his head, flashing Alice a smug smile. “I think it’s a fitting punishment,” he agreed. Despite herself, Alice felt herself relax when she heard what her punishment would be; not flying for the rest of the year wasn’t a big deal to her when she didn’t have her own broom with her.

“So do I,” Jones agreed. “Although,” he continued, a thoughtful tone to his voice, “we do need a new seeker for the Quidditch team.”

The head of Slytherin house stared at Jones as though he couldn’t believe the words he had just heard coming from his colleague’s mouth. “Ianto, can I have a word?” He didn’t wait for an answer before he grabbed hold of Jones’ elbow and pulled him to the side. “You have to be joking, right?” Hart hissed.

Jones rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “No, John, I’m not. I’m dead serious. Playing Quidditch is in her blood; you know that.” Alice frowned deeply and wondered how he had known her dad played Quidditch while he had been at the school.

“I remember,” Hart snapped. “She’s not going on my Quidditch team.”

Professor Jones turned to face her and Alice quickly averted her eyes in attempt to make it less obvious that she had been watching them and eavesdropping. “What were you doing flying unsupervised, Miss Harkness?” he asked. The smirk on his face told her that he knew exactly what she had been doing.

Alice squared her shoulders and met Jones’ blue eyes with her own. “Nott threw Williams’ Rememberall, Professor. His memory is so bad that he needs all the help he can get,” she added, hoping that she was right about what the object did. “I didn’t want it to get broken, so I flew after it.”

At her words, Jones’ eyes widened in surprise. “And you managed to catch it?” he breathed in awe.

Alice nodded proudly. “Yes, Sir.”

The Professor turned back to Hart. “I think she’d be perfect, John,” he reiterated. “How many students could catch something as small as a Rememberall?”

Hart sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t care,” he muttered petulantly. “I’m not having her on my team.”

“Come on,” Jones whispered, reaching his hand out and placing it on the other man’s arm, running his thumb over the inside Hart’s elbow. “Slytherin need to win the cup this year; I don’t think I could stand Rose if Gryffindor win again. Do it for me?” Alice’s eyes widened as she watched them interact with each other; surely she was imaging Professor Jones fluttering his eyelashes at Hart?

Finally Hart scowled and roughly unfolded his arms. “Fine,” he muttered. “Harkness, be on the Quidditch pitch first thing in the morning,” he barked, never taking his eyes off Jones. “Flint will meet you and we’ll see if you’ve got what it takes to be a Seeker.” He didn’t say another word as he turned on his heel and stalked off down to his office in the dungeons.

“Thank you, Professor,” Alice said softly, turning to face the Charms teacher when Hart had disappeared.

Jones shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me,” he stated. “Just don’t disappoint me. John will kill me if we lose the Quidditch cup this year after all that.”

“I’ll try not to,” Alice swore. She looked down at the ground for a moment before she hesitantly asked, “Professor? How did you know playing Quidditch is in my blood?”

Jones drew in a sharp breath at her question and a look of alarm flittered across his face – along with a look Alice couldn’t identify – before he schooled his features once more. “Your father and I were in the same year. I remember that he used to play for our house team,” he softly answered. “You’d best get to your next class, Miss Harkness. It’s History of Magic, isn’t it?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject. “You don’t want to keep Professor Binns waiting.”

He stalked away from her without saying another word, leaving her wondering if there was more to his story than he was telling her.

~

  


**The Third Floor Corridor**  


Two days later it was official; Alice was a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team (against Hart’s better judgement). And, if Flint was to be believed, she was the youngest Quidditch player in a century. 

When she had arrived in History of Magic, Draco and Owen had been positive that Hart had kicked her out. They were even planning on throwing her a farewell party after class. The look of relief on their faces, made her grin and hug them tightly despite their protests – Professor Binns didn’t even notice that she had been missing, never mind that she had arrived.

The day her place on the team had been announced, Draco had taken it upon himself to drag Alice up to the trophy room on the second floor. “Why won’t you tell me why you’ve dragged me up here?” Alice whined, following, trying to pull her hand from Draco’s, but the blond’s grip was too tight. 

Draco rolled his eyes. “Just stop complaining and follow me,” the blond instructed, pulling her across the room to the display case in the corner.

“I don’t get why you can’t just tell me,” Alice grumbled, stomping after her ‘friend’ – she was beginning to reconsider calling him that.

The blond Slytherin heaved a sigh. “Because then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” he stated. He finally came to a stop and arranged her so Alice was looking in the direction he wanted. “There,” he finally said, stepping to the side and pointing at the cabinet they were standing in front of. 

Alice’s gaze followed Draco’s finger and she gasped in surprise when she saw her dad’s name engraved on the trophy. “How did you know this was here?” she breathed, leaning forward so she could see the names clearer. 

“I had to polish the trophies when Tyler gave me detention yesterday,” Draco answered with a shudder. “When you have to clean everything without magic, you have to read the names to keep yourself awake. And… look at who the Beater was,” he instructed.

She narrowed her eyes a little as she tried to make out the writing to the right of her dad’s name. Her jaw fell open in surprise. “Ianto Lumic?” Alice tore her gaze away from the trophy and looked at Draco. “That’s not his name,” she pointed out, feeling stupid for stating the obvious.

Draco huffed in annoyance. “I know, but there can’t be many students called ‘Ianto’ that attended Hogwarts; could there? And you said they were in the same year; who else could it be?” he added with a shrug of his shoulders. 

Alice glanced back at the trophy, staring at the name engraved on the metal. “I wonder why he changed his name,” she mused. “If it is him, do you reckon he knew my mum?” she whispered as a thought occurred to her.

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to ask him?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Alice admitted. “He seemed pretty… hesitant to even tell me that he knew Dad. I bet they weren’t even friends; probably hated each other’s guts. I don’t think he’d appreciate me asking about my mum.”

She moved away from the cabinet and across to the door. “Can I go get some dinner now?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at her friends who were still standing on the opposite side of the room.

“You’re acting like you’re not happy I told you about your dad being a Seeker,” Draco huffed as he and Owen followed her out of the room and down the staircase.

Alice paused and looked back Draco and Owen. “I am,” she said, smiling at her friend. “I knew Dad played Quidditch, but he never told me he was a Seeker. I mean, it makes sense, but he doesn’t really like talking about school that much. I-,” She shrieked in surprise when the staircase beneath her jolted to life and began to slowly move. 

“Great,” Owen drawling, clutching the banister tightly with one hand as he waited it to stop moving. “God knows when we’re going to get to dinner now.”

When the staircase came to a stop, Draco let out a sigh of relief. “Best going this way,” he said, jogging down the remainder of the stairs to where it had stopped on a small slab of concrete that jutted out from the wall. It didn’t lead to anything other than another stair case that went up instead of down. “Even if it is going up instead of down,” he added, grumbling under his breath.

“This one better not start moving as well,” Owen added, scowling darkly at nothing in particular, following Draco and Alice up the stairs. “You realise we’re on the third floor now, right?” he whispered when they reached the top.

Alice swallowed nervously and exchanged a panicked look with Draco – clearly they _hadn’t_ realised where they were until Owen had pointed it out. “If we get caught up here, we’re dead,” she murmured. “There’s got to be another staircase down from here,” she reasoned, trying to see an opening through the dark shadows that filled the corridor. 

“Let’s try down here,” Draco said, trying to sound braver than he felt as he took a step away from them into the darkness. 

Before he got too far down the corridor, he froze in horror when one of the torches on the wall sprung to life and illuminated the way. “It’s automatic,” the blond assured the others. “Magic makes it light when someone passes it,” he added, sounding less certain than he had previously. 

A hissing sound caught their attention and they all glanced down in horror to see a mangy cat a few feet away from them. Its back was arched and its teeth were bared as it growled and hissed at them. “It’s Filch’s cat,” Owen exclaimed, looking around them for the caretaker; they all knew that where the cat was, Filch wouldn’t be far behind.

Not needing any instruction, they turned as one and fled in the opposite direction as quickly as they could. Before they reached the staircase they’d just come from, they heard the familiar sound of the stonework moving and groaned loudly. “What are we supposed to do now?” Draco shrieked, his voice much higher than it usually was. 

Alice looked around them widely as her mind tried to think of something that would help them out. “Look!” she exclaimed. “There’s a door!”

Almost before she’d even said the words, the others had taken off in a run towards the dark door. “It’s locked!” Owen exclaimed in dismay after trying the handle. “What now?” he demanded in panic.

Draco groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I know there’s an unlocking charm,” he said. “I just can’t remember what it is.”

With an audible sigh, Alice sighed and pulled out her wand. “Move out of the way,” she instructed, shoving Owen and Draco out of her way. “Am I the only one of us who paid attention to Professor Jones?” she asked, wondering how her friends were ever going to pass their Charms exam at the end of the year.

“Yes,” Draco and Owen chorused.

The young witch rolled her eyes, waved her wand and said the word, “Alohomora.”

Immediately they heard the lock click and Alice turned the handle, pushing the door open. “Get inside,” she instructed, glancing back over her shoulder for Filch before slamming the door closed. 

“I don’t think he followed us,” Draco whispered, breathing heavily as he leant back against the wood.

“He probably thinks this door’s locked,” Owen stated, trying to regulate his own breathing. 

Alice rolled her eyes. “It was locked, you idiot,” she said, elbowing him in the ribs.

They heard a growl from over their shoulders and slowly Draco turned around. “And for good reason,” he murmured, his eyes widening in horror.

Alice and Owen spun around, staring at what Draco was looking at. Alice felt her stomach drop out; there was a giant three headed dog less than 10 feet away from them.

“Keep still,” Alice whispered, blindly reaching behind her for the door handle. 

“Not a problem,” Owen snapped. “I’m too scared to more.”

The dog stood up and blinked sleepily. It titled its head, taking in their presence in front of it, before deciding they were a threat and baring its teeth at the students. Simultaneously they screamed and Alice finally wrenched the door open. “Get out!” she instructed, pulling Draco through the doorway when he didn’t move. 

It took all three of them to close the door – the dog was trying to escape after them - and they fell back against it, breathing even heavier than they had been previously. “Come on,” Alice instructed after giving them a moment to recover, before she pushed off the door and taking off in a run down the corridor, Draco and Owen on her heels. They didn’t know where they were going but knew that they had to get as far away from the dog as possible.

Somehow they managed to find a staircase that took them where they needed to be and managed to make it to the Slytherin common room with all thought of going to dinner forgotten.

“What do they think they’re doing?” Owen demanded, coming to a stop in the middle of the empty common room and clutching his side with a grimace. “Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school.”

Alice leant forward, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to breathe; running away from Filch hadn’t affected her, but running through the school away from a three headed dog had knocked the wind out of her sails. “You don’t use your eyes, do you? Didn’t you see what it was standing on?” she panted.

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “I don’t know about Harper, but I wasn’t looking at its feet; I was a bit pre-occupied with its heads.”

Owen nodded his head firmly. “There were three!” he reminded Alice with a shriek.

Alice rolled her eyes. “I know that,” she snapped. “But it was standing on a trap door.”

Draco frowned. “But that would mean…”

“It’s not there by accident,” Alice nodded. “It’s guarding something.”

The three friends fell silent for a moment, before Owen asked, “What could be so important it needs a giant three headed dog to guard it?”

Alice and Draco shrugged their shoulders. “No idea,” Draco murmured.

“Couldn’t you ask the Doctor?” Owen suddenly asked as the idea struck him.

Alice scoffed and shook her head. “Yeah, right,” she retorted sarcastically. “I’ll just go up to his office, tell him we were on the third floor – which he’s already told everyone we’re not allowed to go on – and we found his pet three-headed dog. He’ll expel me so fast I’ll get whiplash.”

Draco rolled his eyes and punched Owen on the arm. “Idiot!” he snapped.

Owen glared at him and clutched at his arm in pain. “How are we going to find out, then?” he demanded.

Alice and Draco exchanged glanced before they both sighed heavily. “I have no idea,” Draco stated. “But I know I’m not setting foot near that dog again.”

“Me neither,” Owen agreed with a firm nod of his head. 

Alice looked forlornly between her friends, before throwing her hands in frustration. “I swear,” she muttered, stomping down the stairs. “I might as well be friends with girls!” she shouted up at them before slamming her dorm room door closed.

~

  


**Nimbus 2000**  


Alice’s first Quidditch match was on the first of November and she had been feeling increasingly nervous for the entire week leading up to the date. It didn’t help that she had asked her dad to send her StarFlash to the school and she hadn’t heard anything back from him. 

“I’m going to have to play with a school broom,” she complained to Draco over breakfast on October the 29th. “I’m going to kill my dad,” she grumbled, stirring the porridge in her bowl with more aggression than was necessary. 

Draco rolled his eyes at her dramatics. “It could still get here,” he reasoned. “I’m sure your dad…” He trailed off when the post arrived and, much to Alice’s relief, Myfanwy swooped in to deposit a broomstick shaped object on the table between Draco and Alice – Owen had told them to go ahead to breakfast without him, but hadn’t said why. 

“Finally!” Alice breathed, reaching forward and pulling the brown paper away from her custom-built StarFlash (she was pretty sure that Remus had helped convince Jack to spend so much on a broomstick). Only the broomstick she revealed under the paper wasn’t her StarFlash and she frowned in confusion.

“Wow!” Draco murmured, pulling back the rest of paper and looking at the handle. “That’s a Nimbus 2000,” he informed her, awe in his voice as he read what was inscribed on the polished wood.

Alice reached over and plucked a card from the paper. “It’s from my dad,” she said as soon as she spotted the handwriting on the card. “ ‘Your great-uncle got you an owl, so I decided to get you something you actually wanted’,” she read, before heaving a sigh and shaking her head; Jack and the Doctor had always competed over presents – she was beginning to doubt they would ever get over it.

Draco’s eyes widened. “He really is your great-uncle?” he whispered, his eyes flicking up to the empty seat at the teacher’s table where the Doctor usually sat.

“I told you that over a month ago,” Alice snapped, folding the card up and placing it in her bag. “I’m going to try this out,” she stated, grabbing hold of the broom and getting to her feet. “I’ve only got two days to get used to it before the Quidditch Match.”

“He took his time sending you it, didn’t he?” Draco muttered, finishing off the last of his porridge and getting to his feet, following her from the hall. “Should we go get Harper?” he added.

“Probably,” Alice replied, turning left out of the Great Hall and heading down towards the common room. “He’ll throw a hissy fit if he finds out we went flying without him.”

Owen was sitting on one of the large leather couches, reading a paperback book when they arrived. “Why didn’t you come to breakfast?” Alice asked, hopping down the few stairs towards him.

Her friend shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not hungry,” he muttered distractedly, not looking up from the book.

Alice found that extremely hard to believe. Owen never missed a meal if he could help it; there had to be another reason. “What are you reading?” she asked, nodding to the book Owen was reading.

He still didn’t lift his eyes, but he did shift in his seat. “It’s called a book,” he muttered. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to know what one is since it doesn’t have pictures.”

Alice rolled her eyes and glared at him, before snatching the book from her friend’s hands. 

“Careful!” he shouted, jumping to his feet and trying to take the book back from her. “Don’t lose my page!”

“Calm down; I’m not going to,” Alice snapped, sticking her finger between the pages and looking at the cover. She laughed loudly when she saw the title and the author. “I didn’t know you were into vampire novels, Owen,” she stated, handing him the book back. She didn’t need to see any more; she knew exactly what the book was about.

Owen glared at her and took the book back, carefully marking his page and stuffing it in his bag. “These aren’t just ‘vampire novels’. They’re pure genius! You should read them, providing you can understand words with more than two syllables.”

“I’ve already read them, actually,” Alice retorted, a smug expression appearing on her face when Owen looked at her in surprise. “And I happen to think that they’re brilliant.”

Draco frowned in confusion and looked between Alice and Owen. “What are you two talking about?” he snapped. “What was that book?” he added, putting the Nimbus 2000 he held in his hand to the side; Alice had handed it him when she had been looking at the book.

Owen sighed heavily and pulled the book out of his bag again, handing it to the blond. “’Blood of an Angel’,” he read, before his eyes went so wide it was almost comical. “Is this the newest Gabriel D’Abaddon novel?” Draco questioned, excitement shining in his eyes.

“You’ve read them?” Owen asked in surprise, staring at Draco in shock when he nodded his head. “Really? I didn’t think you’d like vampire novels,” he confessed.

Draco laughed and flicked the book over, reading the blurb on the back. “I love these,” he said. “D’Abaddon is such a fantastic writer. I ordered this one as soon as the publication date was announced, but it hasn’t come yet,” he added, a petulant pout forming on his lips. “I was hoping it would come in the post this morning, but it didn’t.”

Owen grinned widely. “That came today,” he stated. “You can read that copy when I’m done if you want?” Owen offered. “If yours doesn’t get here before then,” he added.

The blond nodded his head eagerly and Alice chuckled, rolling her eyes at the excitement they were showing over the book. “You’ll have your own copy by then,” she told Draco.

“Not if the bookshop’s sold out already,” Draco argued at the same time that Owen advised he’d probably be done reading it within the week.

Alice scoffed and shook her head. “I didn’t say you’d have it from the bookstore,” she pointed out. “You’ll have your own copy in a few days, I promise,” she added, turning and picking her Nimbus up from where Draco had placed it.

Both boys exchanged confused looks, before turning to look at her incredulously. “How do you know that?” Draco demanded.

“My dad’s friends with him,” Alice told them with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’ll write to dad and get him to grab you a copy when he sees Gabriel next.”

Alice had been positive that a person’s eyes couldn’t go as wide as Owen and Draco’s were as they stared at her. “Are – Are you serious?” Draco spluttered once he had regained the ability to speak once more. Alice nodded her head and Draco exchanged a shaky breath. “Oh my god,” he whispered.

Still chuckling to herself at their expressions, Alice lifted her broomstick and said, “Now that we’ve got that little crisis sorted, are you coming to help me get the hang of this?”

“Your dad finally sent you your StarFlash, then?” Owen asked, bookmarking his page and sliding the book back into his bag, before slinging it over his shoulder. Alice didn’t speak as she held the broom up so that he could read the model off the handle. “That’s not a StarFlash,” the brunet wizard stated, his eyes widening in surprise. “Where did you get a Nimbus 2000 from?” 

“My dad bought me it,” Alice replied. “He’s probably trying to show the Doctor up for buying me Myfanwy.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Not that I’m complaining; they can try beat each other all they want, as long as I get presents out of it!” she added with a grin as they headed out of the common room.

~

  


**Healthy Competition**  


Jack could feel himself being pulled back from sleep and felt so irritated that something was trying to wake him when he was so exhausted. He had been working until three that morning, trying to get a start on his latest project. No matter how many times he tried to focus, something else would catch his attention. He had been forced to lock himself in his study before he had managed to do _anything_. 

Thankfully, Alice being in school meant that he should have been able to sleep in until noon at least. Or least, he had hoped that would be the case.

Forcing his eyes open, Jack blearily looked around and tried to figure out the source of his disturbance. He sighed in irritation when he saw that there was a very familiar owl sitting on the windowsill, waiting impatiently for him to open the window and let her inside. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Jack grumbled, throwing the covers back and crossing the room. “You really need to learn to be patient,” he stated, opening the window and letting Myfanwy into the room. As he watched her fly to his dresser, he wondered where Alice had learnt ‘Myfanwy’ meant ‘lady’; Jack knew it was Welsh and Welsh words reminded him of…

His thoughts were interrupted by a shriek from the owl and he had to force himself to focus on the present rather than the past. Myfanwy had a letter tied to her leg and was glaring at Jack as she waited for him to remove it.

“There,” he murmured, untying the letter and flipping it over. As expected it was from his daughter and the sight of her handwriting made her smile, even though he was so tired. “Even when she’s at school, she won’t let me sleep in,” he stated, glancing down at the owl, only to receive a bored look in response.

With a sigh, Jack headed down the kitchen to make a much needed cup of tea before he could focus on the letter Alice had sent him.

Minutes later, Jack sat down at the table with a cup in one hand and the letter in the other. He took a small sip of the steaming liquid, before tearing the envelope open and pulling the letter out. 

_Dad,_

_When are you and Great-Uncle going to stop competing against each other? I swear the two of you act younger than me sometimes._

_Not that I’m not grateful about the Nimbus 2000; I am. It’ll help me beat the Gryffindors in Quidditch on Saturday. But you couldn’t have ordered it two weeks ago when I asked for my StarFlash? It’s taking me ages to get used to it. If I fall off and die, I’m blaming you!_

_Guess what I found out about Owen and Draco today. They’re probably the biggest Gabriel D’Abaddon fans I’ve ever met; they nearly wet themselves with excitement when Owen’s book came._

_Could you do me a favour though? Draco got a letter from Flourish and Blotts this afternoon and they’ve delayed shipping his order by a week; they’ve sold-out already._

_Stop grinning so smugly and focus._

_Owen’s offered to let Draco read his copy, but I know he’d prefer to read one of his own. I know you’ve got a few spare copies in your office. Could you send me one for Draco?_

_Don’t worry, I haven’t told them that you’re really D’Abaddon - not that they’d believe me, anyway. Considering the fanboy moment Draco had when I told him you were friends with Gabriel, I don’t even want to know how he’d react to finding out it’s actually you._

_Could you sign a book for Owen as well? I don’t want to have to put up with Draco bragging that he’s got a signed copy and Owen hasn’t._

_Uh oh. Flint’s just called a last minute Quidditch practice; he’s obsessed, I’m telling you!_

_Thank you!_

_Love, Me x_

Jack laughed and shook his head, putting the letter down on the table and finishing his tea with a yawn. He was starting to feel more human, but was still contemplating going back to bed when he felt a pair of arms slide around his neck from behind, making him yelp and jump in surprise.

“Whoa,” Remus murmured, kissing Jack’s neck in greeting. “It’s not often I can make you jump,” he added, nuzzling the other man’s jaw and nipping lightly at the skin there.

Jack immediately relaxed once he realised it was Remus in his house and not an intruder. “How long have you been here?” he asked, tilting his head to the side and gasping with pleasure when Remus sucked on his neck as his hands ran across the former Slytherin’s chest.

“Not long,” Remus whispered. “Little more than five minutes, maybe.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Is that from Alice?” he asked, nodding to the letter on the table in front of Jack as he straightened up.

“Yeah,” he answered, watching Remus slide into the seat next to him. “She got her broomstick,” Jack added.

Remus snorted with laughter. “You mean the same StarFlash that she asked you to send her two weeks ago when she got onto the team?” he questioned. Like Jack, he had received a letter from the young girl he considered to be his niece, detailing how excited she was to be the youngest Quidditch player in a century.

The other Wizard shook his head. “I bought her a Nimbus 2000 for Quidditch,” he stated, trying to not look at Remus. He knew that his oldest friend would know exactly why he had purchased the broomstick for his daughter.

As predicted, Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Because the Doctor bought her an owl,” he stated. “I swear, Jack. Are you two ever going to stop this?”

Jack shook his head, making Remus sigh. “I will, when he does,” he swore, making Remus snort in disbelief. “Owen and Draco are Gabriel D’Abaddon fans,” Jack added, changing the subject as he handed his friend Alice’s letter.

Remus laughed loudly as he read what the Slytherin had written. “I wish I could have seen the look on Draco’s face when he found out she knew Gabriel. It’s a little hard to imagine, though,” he confessed.

“I know,” Jack agreed. “I thought the same thing. Trying to picture a miniature version of Lucius cracking a genuine smile over anything is almost impossible.”

The sandy haired man nodded his head as his eyes flickered back to Alice’s letter. “What does Owen look like?” he asked softly, knowing that Alice’s other best friend was Molly and Arthur Harper’s son.

Jack reached out and placed a hand over Remus’. “Exactly what you’d expect him to look like,” he answered, running his thumb over the back of Remus’. “Exactly like his father with his dark hair and eyes. I’m pretty sure he’ll have the same chiselled jaw when he’s older as well.”

Remus chuckled and leant back in the chair. “His parents will love that,” he laughed. “He’ll have the ladies lining up in no time.” He opened his mouth as though he was going to add something, but changed his mind.

“What?” Jack asked, wanting to know what he had been about to say.

The other man shook his head and handed the letter back to Jack. “It’s not important,” he murmured. “Tell you what,” he continued, plastering a smile that Jack could tell was only half fake on his face, before he turned Jack’s chair around so they were facing each other. “Why don’t you go find that book, sign it and get it sent off to Alice?”

“What are – What are you going to do?” Jack stammered, his heart hammering in his chest as Remus leant forward and ran his tongue over Jack’s Adams apple.

A low chuckle sounded and Remus bit down gently, drawing a groan from Jack. “I’ll be waiting naked in the bed for you,” he whispered, running his tongue over Jack’s strong jaw. “And if you don’t hurry up, I’ll start without you.”

“No you won’t,” Jack argued, giving him a disbelieving look with lust filled eyes that were slowly losing their natural shade of blue.

Remus raised an eyebrow and got to his feet. “Try me,” he challenged, sauntering out of the kitchen; making sure to give Jack a fantastic view of his arse on the way out. 

~

  


**Janet**  


The day after winning her first Quidditch match, Alice left Draco and Owen buried in D’Abaddon’s book (she had lost count of how many times they’d read them) and headed across the grounds to see Donna as she had promised her. 

As soon as she’d seen Alice standing on her doorstep, a grin had split across Donna’s face as she ushered her inside. “You were excellent yesterday,” she complimented, pouring the young witch a cup of tea as Alice slumped back against the comfortable cushions of the couch.

Alice blushed and accepted a biscuit when Donna offered. “Thanks,” she whispered, taking a small bite.

“Your dad finally caved and got you the Nimbus you wanted, I take it,” Donna said, recalling that Jack had been against buying her the broomstick.

The young witch rolled her eyes. “He only caved because the Doctor gave me an owl,” she muttered. 

“Ah,” Donna murmured in understanding. “And your dad did one better and got you a broom,” she surmised.

Alice nodded her head. “Yeah,” she sighed, drinking her tea. “Not that I’m complaining - I usually get something from them when they’re acting like five-year-olds. It’s just getting old fast.”

Donna laughed and took a drink of her own tea. “What have you named the owl?” she asked, leaning back and looking at the young girl. 

“Myfanwy,” Alice answered easily (she had been practicing her pronunciation so it matched Professor Jones’).

The red head raised a surprised eyebrow and Alice grinned widely. “Where did that come from?” Donna asked.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “Professor Jones suggested it the morning I got her. He said it meant ‘lady’ in…”

“Welsh,” Donna finished for her. “If that’s what he says it means, I’d believe him; he was born in Newport, after all,” she added with a smile.

At her words, Alice saw the opening she had been looking for ever since Draco had shown her the trophy with her dad’s name on them. “You’ve known Professor Jones a while haven’t you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice casual. Wearily Donna nodded her head and Alice added, “When Hart caught me flying, Professor Jones said he knew Dad when they were at school. We found a trophy with my dad’s name on it, and it said that the beater was Ianto Lumic. We weren’t sure if that was him or not.”

“Ah,” Donna murmured, shifting uncomfortably in her seat and ran her index finger around the edge of the cup in front of her. “That’s him,” she whispered. “He and your father were in the same year and both were Slytherin’s. Ianto was already a beater on the house Quidditch team when your dad started playing as seeker.”

“Was Professor Jones friends with my mother?” Alice asked, her heart hammering in her chest as she waited for an answer. “I know she was in the same year.”

Donna sighed heavily and tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling and closing her eyes as she collected her thoughts for a moment. “She was in their year; she was a Ravenclaw. They weren’t friends with each other, though. Well,” she corrected with a shake of her head, “Jack and Ianto were best friends right up until their last year. I don’t remember ever seeing Lucia and Jack in the same place for anything other than class until that year,” she mused, biting her lower lip as she thought.

“What happened?” Alice asked, leaning forward and looking at Donna eagerly. 

She shook her head, making her red curls fall in front of her face. “No,” she stated firmly, waving a hand to cut off Alice’s protests. “I’m not saying anything else. If you want to know about them so bad, ask your dad at Christmas.”

There was a knock at the door and Donna sighed, pushing herself upright. “Afternoon, Doctor,” she greeted when she opened the door and found the Headmaster standing on her doorstep. “Come in,” she offered, taking a step to the side to allow the wizard entrance to her small house.

“Thank you,” the Doctor responded with a small nod of his head. “Alice!” he exclaimed. His previously serious face lit up with a grin spreading across his face when he saw his great-niece sitting on the couch.

Alice waved at him, complaining when he ruffled her hair. “Stop it,” she whined, trying to move away from his reach. 

The Doctor laughed and rolled his eyes. “You’re no fun anymore,” he pouted, before turning back to Donna and allowing the serious expression to return to his face once more. “Sorry to interrupt your tea break,” he apologised. “But, I need your help, Donna.”

Donna frowned deeply. “Is there something wrong?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.

“Nothing life or death,” the Doctor hurried to assure her. “There’s just a small problem with…” He seemed to hesitate and his eyes flickered over to Alice before adding, “Janet.”

Alice scowled at the back of the Doctor’s head and she tried to think of anyone at the school who might be called Janet, but she couldn’t think of anyone. 

“Ah,” Donna murmured, clearly understanding what the Doctor wasn’t saying. “Alice, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to…”

The Slytherin student shook her head. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I should be getting back, anyway. I’d better make sure Owen and Draco haven’t killed each other,” she added with a chuckle, grabbing her cloak from where it was lying on the back of Donna’s couch. “Have a nice evening, Doctor,” she said, hugging him tightly around the waist. “I’ll come see you next week,” she added, hugging Donna as well before leaving the small house.

As soon as she left the small house, Alice broke into a run and fled back to the castle as fast as her legs would carry her. The Slytherin common room was full when she burst through the door, looking around wildly for her friends as she tried to catch her breath. She growled under her breath when she realised that she couldn’t see either of them, which earned her a few odd looks from various people, before she sprinted across the room and up the stairs to the boys’ dormitory. 

“Guys!” she exclaimed, throwing open the door labelled ‘first years’ and bursting into the room. “I think I’ve figured something out,” she added, placing her hands on her thighs and panting heavily.

Draco and Owen were the only people in the room and they were sitting on the blond’s bed with a D’Abaddon book in between them. “Do you mind?” Owen demanded, turning and glaring at her in irritation. “Girls aren’t allowed in here.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I know that,” she snapped. “But I’ve figured something out about that giant three headed dog,” she told them, closing the door behind her so no one could hear what she was saying.

Draco sighed heavily. “I thought we’d told you already; we don’t want anything to do with that… thing. I don’t know what it’s there for and I don’t care.”

“She is called Janet,” Alice informed them, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for their reaction. 

Owen’s eyes widened in surprise and he stared at her as though she had gone mad. “Someone named it?” he squeaked.

Alice nodded her head. “I was down at Donna’s and the Doctor came; he said he needed her help with ‘Janet’.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “That might just be a student,” he snapped. “You’re just jumping to conclusions.”

She sighed impatiently and wrung her hands in irritation, trying to resist the urge to wrap them around her friend’s neck. “I’m not!” she insisted. “I’m positive there’s something going on up on that corridor that the teachers don’t want us to know about!”

The two boys exchanged a look before they turned their attention back to her. “Like what?” Draco challenged with a raised eyebrow.

“Well…” Alice huffed, flushing hotly under their combined gaze. “I haven’t figured it out for certain yet,” she confessed, drawing a laugh from the others. “But I’m pretty sure someone in the school is trying to get _something_ and Janet is guarding it.”

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes, grabbing the book off the bed and getting to his feet. “And who do you think is trying to get this mysterious object?” he questioned, moving over to his own bed and dropping the book down on his pillow. 

Alice bit her lip as she tried to think. She hadn’t thought she would need to justify her theory to her friends and couldn’t think of anyone under the pressure they were putting on her. “Well, it can’t be a student,” she surmised. “They would have gotten caught by Filch and we’d have heard about that already,” she added.

“Which leaves the teachers,” Owen said, earning him an exasperated sigh from Draco.

“Don’t tell me that you agree with her stupid theory!” Draco exclaimed. 

A bashful expression crossed his face and he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Alice grinned widely. “I reckon Hart’s the only one stupid enough to think he can get past Janet,” she stated, ignoring Draco splutter of disbelief. 

“Now _you’re_ being stupid,” Draco stated, flopping down onto the bed and covering his head with his pillow. He added something that was so muffled by the pillow over his face that neither Owen nor Alice could understand him.

“Malfoy! We can’t understand you!” Alice cried in irritation.

Draco growled and pulled the pillow away from his face. “I said,” he began, pushing himself up on his elbows. “That Professor Hart is our head of house; I’m pretty sure trying to accuse him of stealing a potentially imaginary object is classed as treason.” 

“If I can find out what’s down there, will you consider the possibility that I might be right?” Alice asked, sitting on Owen’s bed and wincing when she landed on something hard that turned out to be a hardcopy edition of D’Abaddon’s first book.

The blond sighed heavily, but nodded his head regardless. “Find out what’s down there, then I’ll consider the possibility,” he promised. “But I’m still not going anywhere near that dog again!”

~

  


**Christmas**  


A week before Christmas, Remus and Jack found themselves waiting on Platform 9 ¾ for the Hogwarts Express to arrive as it brought the students back from the school for Christmas break. How Jack had managed to get him to wait as well, Remus had no idea. Well, he presumed there had been sex involved at some point, but he really couldn’t remember. 

He had given in eventually, even though he knew that he wouldn’t be able to wait until the Express arrived as his own train was due a little while before then. Standing on the platform, watching as his best friend paced the platform as he waited, Remus was reminded of why he hadn’t wanted to accompany Jack in the first place; he didn’t deal well with waiting and wanted everything immediately. Sometimes Remus wondered if it was because Jack was an only child, but then his brain reminded him that he knew a lot of sibling-less people and none of them were as impatient as Jack.

After ten minutes of watching Remus finally snapped and grabbed hold of Jack’s arm as he passed him. “Will you _please_ stay still?” he growled low in his throat. “If you pace one more time, I will actually throw you under the train when it gets here.”

Jack stared at him for a moment, before he flushed and nodded his head. “Sorry,” he whispered, knowing how much his impatience grated on Remus’ nerves. “I’m just excited; I haven’t seen Alice since September!” he added as though the other man wasn’t aware of how much time had passed since Alice had started Hogwarts.

Despite his previous irritation, Remus felt a smile spread across his face and he reached out, placing a hand on Jack’s cheek. “I know,” he murmured, running his thumb over his cheekbone. “And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to see Alice, but do you have to pace while you’re waiting? It’s driving me mental.”

Jack lifted a hand and covered Remus’, squeezing softly as he opened his mouth to respond. Before he could speak, the sound of an engine approaching reached his ears and he quickly spun around, grinning from ear to ear when he saw a familiar red engine heading in their direction.

Remus grinned at Jack’s enthusiasm and quickly glanced at his wristwatch, wincing when he saw the time. “Right,” he said regretfully. “I’m going to have to go. My train leaves in ten minutes,” he added when Jack turned to look at him with a distressed expression on his face. 

“I’ve already told you that you don’t have to leave,” Jack muttered, turning back to Remus with a petulant expression on his face. “We’re going to see you on Christmas day, anyway. You might as well stay with us.”

The sandy haired man chuckled and took a small step forward. “And I’ve already told you that you and Alice need to spend some time together to catch up,” he whispered, placing a chaste kiss against Jack’s lips. “Besides, you know that I can’t be around Alice on 21 December,” he reminded Jack.

A scowl crossed Jack’s face and he reluctantly nodded his head. “I hate when you’re right,” he muttered as Remus flashed him a brilliant grin, before disappearing back through the barrier and into the Muggle world to catch his train home to where he lived in Wrexham since apparating tired him out too much sometimes.

Jack sighed heavily as he watched his friend leave, before grinning when he heard a familiar voice cry, “Dad!” and he found himself with an armful of his daughter before he could react.

“Hey,” he greeted once he had recovered from the shock, hugging her tight. “You’ve grown.”

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of his grip. “No, I haven’t,” she muttered, handing Jack her backpack with an expectant look on her face.

“I can’t believe you’ve been back for five seconds and you’ve already got me carrying everything,” Jack muttered, placing the bag on his shoulder and glancing around the platform. “Where’s Draco and Owen?” he asked, frowning deeply. He had wanted to meet Draco, to see if he looked as much like Lucius as he and Remus expected him to.

“They’re both staying at school for Christmas,” Alice told him as they headed over to where the porter was unloading the small amount of luggage students had brought home for the holiday. “Meet Myfanwy,” she added, pointing to the caged owl as they got closer. She had contemplated leaving her in the owlery with the other owls, but that thought had made her feel bad, so she had decided Myfanwy was going home with her instead.

Jack glared down at the owl that regularly disturbed his sleep, and muttered darkly, “We’ve met.” Alice raised an eyebrow when she heard his tone, and he sighed heavily, picking the cage up. “She doesn’t like me,” he added, making Alice laugh and shake her head. “Where did you get the name from, anyway?” he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder as they headed through the barrier into the Muggle world. “I didn’t know you knew Welsh.”

He led Alice through the station to the taxi rank and, instead of joining the back of the queue – the people of which were waiting not-so-patiently for an elderly man to clamber into the black cab at the front - he simply walked to end of the line and opened the door to a vacant cab. “I don’t,” Alice retorted, climbing into the car before Jack. “What did you do?” she whispered under her breath after Jack had given their address to the driver.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jack retorted indignantly, leaning back and looking out of the window with an innocent expression on his face. He winced when he felt her eyes on him and managed a whole five minutes before admitting, “I may have used _confundus_ to make everyone think this taxi wasn’t there and to make the driver think that there wasn’t a queue,” he confessed, his voice far too low for the driver to hear as he navigated them through the streets of London. “So,” he added, changing the subject, “how did you find the name Myfanwy?” 

“Professor Jones suggested it,” she replied, sticking her finger through the bars of the cage and stroking the bird’s feathers. “He said it means ‘lady’.”

Jack’s eyes widened he stared at her. “Professor… Jones named her?” he asked softly, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.

Alice nodded her head, staring out of the window at the familiar streets as they drove through North London. “He was there at breakfast when she arrived,” she informed her father, grinning brilliantly when they pulled up to the front of their house. “I’ve missed being home,” she gushed, grabbing her bag and clambering out of the car almost before it had stopped.

At the doorway, she stopped with a scowl on her face when she realised that she couldn’t open the door without Jack’s keys. “Come on, dad!” she exclaimed, huffing in annoyance at the speed her father was moving.

Jack chuckled and wrapped an arm around his daughter when he reached her. “I bet you’re looking forward to sleeping in your own bed, aren’t you?” he asked, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss against her forehead.

“Oh yeah,” Alice agreed, looking up at the house she had grown up in as Jack unlocked the door. She was home for the first time since September.

~

  


**Unexpected Contact**  


Christmas came and went quickly, with Remus spending Christmas Eve through to the New Year with them. It had been mostly drama free; if you ignored the fight Jack and the Doctor had gotten into over something so stupid that Alice couldn’t even remember what it had been about. 

Three days before Alice was due to return back to school, there was a tapping at the kitchen window, indicating the arrival of an owl. “There’s some post for you,” Jack called through to the living room after letting the bird into the house. 

Alice, who had been lying on the couch reading the new book Remus had given her, sighed heavily, pushed herself to her feet and headed into the kitchen. “That’s not Draco’s,” she stated with a frown, coming to a stop in the doorway. “It’s a school owl and Owen would use Draco’s if he was going to send me something. It’s probably for you,” she added, turning on her heel and heading back into the sitting room to return to her book.

Jack frowned deeply and glanced down at the letter in his hand. Immediately, his breath caught in his throat when he recognised the script on the front; flipping the envelope over and looking at the waxy seal on the back merely confirmed his suspicions. 

Slumping down into a chair at the table, Jack scowled when he saw how much his hand was shaking. How was it possible that someone he hadn’t seen or spoken to for over a decade could affect him by simply sending a letter? Slowly he turned the envelope over and over in his hands as he tried to decide whether he wanted to open it, or return it and never find out what it contained. 

Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he sighed heavily, carefully flicking the ornate wax ‘L’ off with his fingernail, he pulled the letter out and slowly unfolded it. 

_J,_

_It’s amazing how much you can say in a letter. Things you’d never dreamt you could say aloud – things you’d never dare._

_I’ve thought about contacting you so many times over the years, but always talked myself out of it before I could send the letter. How do you ask for forgiveness you know you don’t deserve?_

_So, I’m not asking for forgiveness, nor am I asking for understanding; we each had our reasons for choosing the paths we did, even if those decisions were wrong in light of the bigger picture. But I do want you to know that I never stopped thinking about you, J. Watching you go like that was the hardest moment of my life; letting you leave was the biggest mistake in the universe._

_I don’t presume Alice has told you that I’m her Charms teacher; I know I never spoke to my parents about school, that’s for sure. Your uncle seems to know everything that goes on in the school, so I imagine you didn’t tell him anything either; there would be no need._

_As soon as I saw her, I recognised who she was. She looks so much like her mother; but you can still tell she’s your daughter. She’s every bit a Harkness as she is a Moretti. More so, I would imagine, since her Slytherin side appears to have won out over her Ravenclaw genes._

_I’m not expecting anything to come from this letter; I’m not even a hundred percent certain I’ll send it. But I hope I do. I hope I have the courage someday to finally admit how much of a mistake I made._

_Yours, always_

_Ianto_

As he finished reading, Jack exhaled sharply, only then realising that he had been holding his breath. Feeling something wet on his cheeks, he realised that the wetness was coming from the tears he was crying. For the first time in ten years, he was shedding a tear over the man he once thought he’d loved.

“Dad?” Alice asked from the doorway, making him jump as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. 

Quickly, he brought a hand up to brush the tears away, before he turned on the chair to look at his daughter. “Yeah?” he replied, focusing his eyes on her and trying to smile brightly, although he knew he hadn’t managed it when a concerned expression crossed Alice’s face as she got closer.

“What’s wrong?” she questioned, leaning against the edge of the table and looking down at him. “You’re crying,” she added, bringing a hand up and brushing away a tear Jack had missed.

Jack shook his head and placed his hand over hers. “Nothing, I’m fine,” he lied.

The young Slytherin scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I haven’t seen you cry once, Dad. Well,” she corrected herself with a smirk, “other than when we’re watching a sad film.”

Jack’s jaw fell open and he glared at his daughter. “I do not cry at sad films!” he exclaimed.

Alice laughed. “Yes, you do,” she retorted. “And don’t think I haven’t realised you’ve changed the subject,” she added, waggling an accusatory finger in front of his face.

Jack sighed and his shoulders slumped. “You really are too smart to be a Slytherin; you should see the Doctor and ask him to resort you into Ravenclaw,” he advised.

She pulled a face. “No, thanks, I like being a Slytherin. Why did Professor Jones make you cry?” she questioned, nodding to the letter that Jack had let drop to the floor when Alice had made him jump. When he tried to scoop down to pick the letter up, Alice was too quick for him and snatched the letter up before he could reach it. “Don’t even try to say it’s nothing, because I know there’s something wrong. And I know it’s from him, because I saw his name at the bottom. Either you tell me what’s wrong with you, or I read this,” she held the parchment behind her back as she stepped away from Jack, “and find out for myself.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jack muttered darkly, narrowing his eyes as he got to his feet.

Alice took a step back, even as she fixed him with a steely glare. “Do you want to put money on that?” she challenged, raising an eyebrow.

For the following five minutes, a glaring competition took place between the father and daughter, before Jack’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “You might not like what you hear,” he warned. Alice shrugged her shoulders. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” He held his hand out for the letter and, after scrutinising his face for a moment longer Alice smiled and placed the letter in his palm.

Jack nodded for her to sit down at the table, before he took his seat again. “Okay, what do you want to know?” he asked nervously, placing the letter face down on the table.

“I want to know why you’re not friends with him anymore,” Alice stated immediately; she had been going through what she wanted to ask him for weeks. “Donna said you were best friends when you were school. Something big must have happened between you for him to be able to make you _cry_.”

Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “We… We were friends,” he conceded. “But we also went out for a while.”

Alice’s jaw dropped open in surprise and she stared at Jack for so long he actually started to feel uncomfortable. 

“Say something,” he muttered, tugging at the sleeves of his sweatshirt nervously.

She didn’t respond for a moment, before she blinked and shook her head. “Okay,” she whispered. 

The wizard’s eyes widened at her reaction. “That’s it?” he asked, incredulously. “That’s… You’re not bothered?”

Alice lifted her eyes and chuckled when she saw the disbelieving look she was giving him. “How did you think I was going to react?” she asked. “You didn’t think I’d jump up screaming like a brat?” she scoffed and shook her head. 

A flush crept over Jack’s cheeks and he looked down at the table with a bashful look on his face. “Are you - Are you sure you’re okay with knowing I like dating guys as well as girls?” 

The young witch reached forward and covered his hand with hers. “Of course, I am,” she assured him. “To be honest, I’d kinda already figured that out, anyway. It’s not exactly secret when you flirt with anyone that walks – male or female,” she added with a chuckle.

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You really are too smart for your own good,” he said, lifting their joined hands and pressing a kiss against hers.

“I take it that you broke up with him then,” Alice surmised.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Something like that,” he muttered, making Alice’s eyes narrow in suspicion; it was obvious that there was more to the story than what he was saying, but she didn’t press the issue for now. “The last time I saw him was the day after your mother died, and I haven’t spoken to him since.” 

Alice reached out and plucked the letter from where it was underneath Jack’s hands. “Until he sent this,” she added, holding the letter out in front of Jack. “What are you going to do about it?” 

Jack shrugged his shoulders and took the letter from her, his blue eyes skimming the text. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “Sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning, I suppose.”

~

Getting some sleep that night turned out to be a pipedream for Jack. Every time he closed his eyes and tried to drift off, he would see Ianto behind his eyelids and hear his voice – gorgeous Welsh vowels and all – reading out the letter.

As the luminous digits on his alarm clock ticked over from 00:59 to one am, Jack finally gave up all pretence of sleeping and threw back the covers, climbing out of the bed and heading down the stairs to his office where he had stowed the letter in one of his desk drawers.

With a yawn, Jack pulled the drawer open and slumped into the seat, re-reading the words written there with a small smile on his face as he ran his fingers over the familiar handwriting. 

“Now or never, Harkness,” he muttered to himself, reaching out and grabbing the nearest piece of paper and a pen.

_Ianto,_

_I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t thought about contacting you more times than I can count over the years. But, like you, I could never bring myself to send anything to you. Part of me thinks it’s my anger that won’t let me speak to you, but mostly I think it’s my pride that gets in the way._

_I know you’re not asking for forgiveness, which is a good thing; I’m not certain I’d be able to offer it, even if you asked._

_I do know, however, that I would like to see you again. But I don’t know when; contrary to popular belief time does not heal all wounds and there are some things I just haven’t dealt with yet._

_So, how about we start afresh? Be… ‘Pen-pals’ for want of a different phrase, before we see each other again? Let’s get to know each other first. Who knows we might have changed too much for us to even work anymore._

_Yours eternally,_

_J_

Ten minutes after sending the letter with Myfanwy (he was sure that Alice would understand), Jack slid back under the covers and pulled them up to his chin. He allowed himself a small smile as he closed his eyes and slipped into a dream filled with a gorgeous Charms teacher and Welsh vowels.

~

  


**The Key**  


When Alice returned from the Christmas holidays, she was surprised to find a small package waiting in the centre of her bed. She dropped her backpack to the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the card off the brightly wrapped package. 

She smiled when she saw that it was from the Doctor, even though she was a little confused why he’d sent her another present, considering she’d received a new practise Quidditch set from him on Christmas day. “‘This was your fathers; I think it’s time it was passed on to the next generation’,” she read aloud. “‘Please try and use it wisely’.”

Alice threw the note to one side and grabbed the present, carefully pulling the ribbon away and opening the box. The excitement she had felt before she’d opened it, vanished when she saw that there was nothing more than a dull silver key sitting at the bottom of the box.

“That’s it?” she muttered, picking the key up in her hand and turning it over in her hand as she studied it, trying to work out if there was anything special about it. She didn’t think it looked too remarkable. 

There was a light knock on the door and, before she could say anything, it opened and Draco stepped inside, looking around the room with a small scowl on his face. “Alice?” he called, standing next to her bed and placing his hands on his hips.

“What?” she asked, wondering why he was looking at everything else in the room except her.

As soon as she spoke, Draco jumped violently and turned on his heel, looking wildly around the room with a look of fear on his face. “Where the hell are you?” he demanded, still turning around as though there was something he couldn’t see. 

She huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. “I’m right in front of you,” she stated, getting to her feet and moving so she was standing less than a foot away from Draco.

“This isn’t funny, Harkness!” Draco snapped angrily, still looking straight through Alice.

Alice growled and dropped the key onto her bed so that she could give Draco all kinds of verbal abuse. As soon as the key left her hand, Draco’s eyes widened and he let out a scream of horror, jumping back until there was at least three feet between them. “How did you do that?” he demanded.

“Do what?” Alice snapped. “I didn’t do anything. I’ve been standing here all this time and you were the one that pretended like I wasn’t even here!”

Draco continued staring at her, his mouth opening and closing for a long moment as he tried to form words. “You _weren’t_ ,” he hissed. “You were invisible.”

Alice snorted with laughter and shook her head. “No I wasn’t!”

The blond Slytherin raised an eyebrow and glared at her in irritation. “I know what I saw, Harkness,” he snapped. “Or rather, didn’t see. You were invisible,” he repeated. 

She looked down at the bed where she had dropped the key and Draco followed her gaze. “What’s that?” he asked, picking it up before she could stop him. 

Alice let out a gasp of surprise when she suddenly found that she couldn’t focus on Draco for longer than a second, even though she knew he was right before her eyes. “That is so weird,” she muttered, shaking her head and trying to focus on Draco once more. “It’s like I know you’re there, but I don’t care.”

“Where did it come from?” Draco asked, dropping the key down onto the bed. 

“The Doctor.” She sat down on the bed, reaching into the box and pulling out a black suede drawstring bag. As she picked the bag up, another piece of parchment fluttered to the bed. “He said it used to be my dad’s,” she added, reaching for the second note. “The bag is supposed to cancel out the affects of the key when I don’t want to use it,” she explained after quickly reading the neatly written words. “This is possibly the best present I’ve ever received,” she grinned. 

Draco snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes. “You got a Nimbus 2000 less than three months ago,” he reminded her. 

Alice waved her hand dismissively. “This is different,” she muttered, getting to her feet and heading for the end of her bed where her trunk was. Reverently she placed the bag containing the key in the bottom corner, underneath a school robe so that it was out of sight to anyone who might try snoop around.

~

  


**The Restricted Section**  


Two days after school started again, Alice and Owen were sitting near the fire in the common room, writing their potions essay when the door burst open and Draco ran in, making everyone jump in the process. The blond ignored their irritated looks and hurried over to where his friends were looking at him in confusion. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Alice demanded, setting her quill down on the table when Draco reached them.

“I…” Draco panted, placing his hands on his hips and leaning forward as he tried to regain his breath. “I just overheard the Doctor talking to Professor Noble about that dog – Janet,” he corrected himself with a roll of his eyes.

Alice and Owen exchanged glances, before leaning forward and listening intently to what the blond was saying. “Someone tried to get past it on Halloween,” Draco told them, lowering his voice to try and avoid being heard by anyone else. 

Alice and Owen exchanged horrified glances. “Did they say who?” Owen pressed, eagerly leaning forward in his seat. 

Draco shook his head and Alice rolled her eyes. “I told you there was something down there that Hart wanted! I bet it was him,” she insisted.

An exasperated look crossed Draco’s face as he slumped into the seat next to Owen and opposite Alice. “You haven’t figured out a way to prove that he wants whatever’s down there,” he reminded Alice of their agreement. 

“Well it might be easier to prove if we knew _what_ was down there,” Alice retorted, sending a glare in Draco’s direction. 

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “I heard the Doctor say something about needing to talk to Richard Lazarus before they can move whatever they’ve got.”

Alice and Owen looked at Draco for a long moment, before Alice sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “But, who’s Richard Lazarus?” she asked.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea,” he admitted.

~

That night, Alice sighed and stared up at the ceiling above her bed. She had been trying to sleep for hours and was no closer to dreamland than she had been when she had climbed under the covers. She had been trying to figure out who Richard Lazarus was (and how he was connected to the Doctor) ever since Draco had arrived in the common room, and it was starting to drive her insane.

With a sigh, she threw back the covers and climbed out of bed, shivering a little at the temperature of the room. She had no idea where she was planning on going, but she knew that she needed to do something other than lie in bed _trying_ to sleep. 

After quickly dressing, Alice crouched down next to her trunk and pulled it open, wincing when the hinges creaked loudly in the silent room. She paused, holding her breath and hoping that none of her housemates heard the noise. When none of them stirred, she sighed in relief and pushed the trunk open fully. With only the moonlight to illuminate the room, she reached inside and rummaged until her fingers curled around the key she had been given earlier that week.

Sitting back on her heels, she slid the key from its bag and looked at it as it sat in the palm of her hand. Now that she was awake and dressed, she wasn’t sure whether she trusted the key enough to keep her hidden if she were to run into a teacher. As she sat there trying to decide, she heard Pansy Parkinson murmur something in her sleep and Alice started fearfully – afraid that Pansy had woken up. Thankfully, no other sound came from her bed and Alice closed her fingers around the key, deciding that if it had worked with Draco and Owen earlier, it would likely work with any teachers that she might encounter as she wandered around the school. 

Silently she closed the trunk, getting to her feet and tiptoeing from the room. Thankfully it was empty, which wasn’t surprising considering how late it was, and Alice tugged the sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt over her hands as she headed out of the door into the corridor.

Alice didn’t have any idea where she was walking; she just let her feet take her wherever they wanted to go and her mind wander as she went. Hopefully, by the time she went back to bed she would finally be tired enough to actually fall asleep. 

Finally she came to a stop in front of a set of large doors marked ‘Library’. After pausing long enough to look over her shoulder to make sure there was no-one around to see a door open by itself, she placed her hands on the old wood and slowly pushed it open. 

As the door softly closed behind her, she looked around and tried to work out why she had unconsciously made her way there. The three of them had already spent all of their free time earlier that day afternoon surrounded by dusty books, pointlessly trying to find anything that made reference to Richard Lazarus.

Her breath caught in her throat when her eyes fell on the large gold plated gates at the opposite end of the room. In the moonlight that was shining through the window, she could make out the plate advising that the Restricted Section was off limits to students. 

It was the only place they hadn’t looked and now she had the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. She just wished it didn’t look as terrifying as it did.

Taking a deep breath and deciding that she hadn’t been put in Slytherin for nothing, Alice crossed the room and tried to open the doors that separated the regular student library from the Restricted Section. Even though she hadn’t been expecting it to be that easy to get inside, she was still disappointed to discover that the door was locked and even an _Alohomora_ spell could get the doors to shift. 

Determined to not let a simple matter of locked gates get in her way, Alice took a step back and glanced up, trying to decide how high they were. They didn’t look too high, she thought to herself. Quickly, before she could talk herself out of it, Alice grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it as close to the gate as she could. She reached up and scowled when she realised that she couldn’t reach the top of the gate; she was going to have to jump.

She hesitated for a second, before bending her knees and springing up, curling her fingers around the metal, wincing when it dug into the palms of her hands. With a grimace, she pulled herself up, muttering under her breath about needing more upper body strength, as she swung her legs around and dropping silently to the ground on the opposite side.

Alice paused, crouched on the floor, and waited to ensure that no alarms had been triggered by her unauthorised appearance behind the gates. When only silence responded to her presence, she slowly got to her feet and looked around, using the moonlight to decide where to start looking. Unlike the main area of the library, nothing in the Restricted Section was labelled – not even the books, in some cases. 

Not really knowing where she was going, she wandered down the middle of two book cases, looking from one side to another as she tried to see if any of the books looked interesting enough to investigate. Near the window, she stopped and scanned the shelves, her eyes falling on a large book three shelves above her head. There was a title on the spine, but it was far too worn for her to even guess what it could say. 

“Well, there’s no point in getting out of bed for nothing,” she whispered, reaching up and pulling the book from its shelf. 

There was a loud clatter of chains and Alice jumped violently at the sound before she realised that the book was attached the bookcase by a study length of metal that shone brightly in the moonlight. Carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, Alice placed the book down on the small reading ledge that was attached to the bookcase and flicked open the dusty cover.

As soon as the book was fully open, a featureless face sprang from its pages and lunged at her as its ear splitting shriek filled the silence of the library. 

~

  


**The Mirror of Erised**  


With her heart in her throat, Alice quickly slammed the cover closed and plunged the library into silence once more. The fact that the books could be alarmed had never even occurred to her – although, she thought as she stuffed the tome back on the shelf, it made sense considering the Restricted Section itself didn’t have any security other than the gates that surrounded it. 

She stilled in fear when she heard, over the ringing and blood rushing in her ears, the sound of footsteps heading in her direction, before the Restricted Section was unlocked. “I knew I heard footsteps earlier,” a hauntingly familiar voice spoke. “Someone is in here.”

Alice took a step back, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and Professor Hart who was hunting around the bookcases with Mr Filch. There was no way she could get out of the section without risking drawing attention to herself and she was pretty sure that the key wouldn’t prevent her from being seen then. Her only option was to keep as quiet as possible and hope that she could get out of the library unscathed after they’d left. To her horror, the footsteps grew closer and Hart turned the corner so he was almost face to face with his female Slytherin student.

When he looked straight in her eyes, Alice knew that her academic career at Hogwarts was finished; she would be expelled for sure. “Are you sure that you heard something in here?” Hart snapped over his shoulder as Argus Filch came around the corner.

“Positive, Professor,” the caretaker replied firmly. “There was definitely someone in here.”

Hart sighed heavily and took a step back, turning to face the other man. “Well, there’s no-one here now. They must have gotten out when we didn’t notice somehow.”

Filch looked positively distraught at the thought that he couldn’t punish a student for being out of bed after hours. “Who do you think it could be, Professor?” Alice watched him fall alongside the Potions teacher as they headed over to the gates once more.

Through the moonlit darkness, Alice could see the corner of Hart’s mouth turn upwards in a sneer before he answered, “I have a pretty good idea who would be able to get away with living by different rules than the rest of the students.” Filch looked at him questioningly, but Hart shook his head as he closed and locked the Restricted Section once more. “Let’s just say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at his words, even as a jolt of fear shot through her; hopefully, Hart wouldn’t search her dormitory in attempt to prove his theory that it was her that they had been looking for. There was no way she’d be able to make it back before he did. She waited a few minutes, trying to hear anything that would indicate that they were waiting for someone to make a move. After hearing nothing, and reminding herself that she couldn’t stay in the library all night, she jumped up and quickly climbed up the gate and over to the other side, where she dropped without making a sound. 

She knew that she couldn’t head in the direction that would take her back to the common room; she was positive that Hart would be lying in wait for the culprit to return and she didn’t want to run the risk of getting caught, even if the key did appear to be able to do its job. Her only option was to take the second exit from the library and hope that it wouldn’t take her somewhere she wouldn’t be able to find her way back from. 

To her surprise, the door she pushed open didn’t lead to a corridor. Instead, it led to a dusty room that, if the empty bookcases were any indication, had once been part of the main library. The section she was currently in had to have been closed for years though, she thought as she moved further into the room and let the door close behind her. Scattered all around the room were old desks and chairs that were missing various pieces. Along one wall, underneath the large window whose stained glass was faded to the point that it was almost clear once more, she could even an old teacher’s desk that appeared to have been half dissolved by some kind of potion or spell.

Slowly she crossed the room and looked through the window, down to the Forbidden Forest she could see below. Suddenly, something moved through the darkness of the trees and she let out a small yelp of horror as she jumped back from the window, before immediately beginning to chide herself. There was no way that whatever was in the forest could get to her inside the school, high above the forest.

Still shaking her head at herself, she turned her back to the window and frowned when she saw that against the opposite wall there was a large object – it had to be at least twice as tall as her dad – that was covered in an old dust sheet. Curiosity getting the better of her, Alice moved towards it and reached up, carefully pulling the dustsheet down and managing to avoid getting covered with dust. “Oh wow,” she whispered in awe when the object was revealed.

Hidden away in the room that Alice suspected many people had either forgotten about, or didn’t know existed, was one of the largest and most ornate mirrors that Alice had ever seen. It was a little hard to see her reflection through the moonlight, but she could see enough to make out that there didn’t appear to be any cracks or chips in the glass. Wondering why the mirror had been hidden, she took a step back and looked up to the top, where an inscription over the glass read, _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi_.

Alice frowned deeply as she tried to work out what language the inscription was in. There weren’t many languages that she knew, but she was pretty sure it didn’t sound like any she had ever heard of before. Sighing heavily, she looked back at her reflection and gasped in surprise when she saw that the picture was clearer now and it was now showing her bedroom back home in London. She felt her throat tighten a little when Jack appeared and grinned at her; his brilliant smile lighting up the reflected room just like it really did. Alice smiled back and took a step forward, pressing her palm against the glass. Her reflection didn’t copy her action; instead it turned and crossed to Jack, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning against his side.

“I should have known you would manage to find this place,” a familiar voice stated from the shadows, making her jump wildly and her heart leapt into her throat. Even though it was obvious that she had somehow been spotted, she didn’t speak in an effort to hide the fact that she was where she shouldn’t be. “I know you’re there, Alice,” the Doctor said, stepping out of the shadows and moving closer to the mirror. 

Sighing heavily, Alice took a step back and moved closer to her great-uncle. “How can you see me when no one else can?” she asked, pulling the key out and glaring at it for giving her away.

The Doctor chuckled and sat down on the floor, which was suddenly clean after a quick wave of his hand. “That key has a perception filter on it,” he answered, patting the spot next to him. “People can see you a little bit, but they find that they don’t really care.” Alice frowned and the Doctor sighed, knowing that he wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining what the key did. “It’s like when you see something out of the corner of your eye. You see it, then look and there’s nothing there, so you dismiss it as a figment of your imagination.”

“Ah,” Alice breathed, finally understanding what the headmaster was trying to explain. “So if someone knows that you’re using it and how it works, it won’t work properly on them?” The Doctor nodded his head in agreement. “Why did you send me it?” she asked, glancing at the key where it sat in the palm of her hand. 

Her great-uncle drew in a deep breath and hesitated before answering, “The key belonged to me – many years ago,” he confessed softly. “I… When your dad started school, I gave it to him for Christmas during his first year.”

Alice scoffed and stared at the older man incredulously. “Why?” she questioned, knowing that giving her father – who didn’t care about rules at the best of times – something that would make breaking them easier, didn’t seem like the smartest thing the Doctor could do.

The Doctor stared at the mirror for a long moment before murmuring, “I guess I thought it would be some kind of peace offering,” he admitted. “He left it behind when he moved to London after taking his N.E.W.T’s and never asked for it back. I thought it was only fair that you should inherit it just like he did.”

They were silent for a beat, before the Doctor changed the subject by asking, “What do you see when you look in the mirror?” 

Even though she knew which mirror he was talking about, Alice followed his gaze and smiled at the reflection that was still showing in the mirror. “Dad,” she answered, wondering why the Doctor was asking her when he could clearly see for himself. “I miss him,” she whispered, curling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.

The Doctor smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure he misses you too,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her temple. “Have you figured out what the mirror does yet?” Alice shook her head and the Doctor’s brown eyes flickered up to the inscription at the top of the glass. “This is the Mirror of Erised,” he informed her. “It isn’t like an ordinary mirror. The reason for its existence is to show people their deepest and darkest desires. Two people cannot see the same thing.”

“What do you see?” Alice asked softly.

The Doctor turned his eyes back to the mirror and stared at it for a long moment. “Jack,” he finally stated quietly.

“Really?” Alice was unable to keep the surprise out of her voice as she asked. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed, nodding his head. “We’re eating Jelly Babies.” Alice snorted with laughter and rolled her eyes, clearly not believing a word he was saying. “I’m serious!” he exclaimed. “Jelly Babies are _gorgeous_.”

Alice chuckled and shook her head, smiling at him affectionately. She knew he wasn’t telling her the truth about what he could see in the mirror, but she also knew that pressing him for answers wouldn’t get her anywhere. “Am I in trouble for being out this late?” she whispered nervously.

The Doctor smiled and patted her on the back. “I’ll let it slide just this once,” he assured her, ruffling her hair and smiling when she batted his hand away in annoyance. “But don’t let it get out; the last thing we need is for people to think I’m playing favourites with you.”

Alice grinned and nodded her head, resting her chin on her knees and staring at the mirror again. 

“But,” the Doctor continued, dragging Alice’s attention away from the mirror once more, “I do have something to ask of you.” Alice nodded her head and the Doctor continued, “I know you’re as curious as your father, but you can’t come looking for the mirror again, Alice. It’s going to be moved to a new home tomorrow and I can’t have you wasting away in front of it, wishing for something that is only a dream.”

He got to his feet, groaning when his knees protested the movement, before he turned to face her. “Come on, Miss Harkness,” he said, smiling when she reached out to grab his hand. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”

~

  


**Richard Lazarus**  


The day before their History of Magic exam, Draco and Owen found themselves sitting in the library at a time when most normal human beings were in bed. They had complained about being up too early for almost an hour, before Alice had snapped that if they had paid more attention in class, they wouldn’t need to try and cram as much knowledge into their heads the day before the exam. Alice herself had vanished almost twenty minutes ago, and neither boy could bring themselves to care enough to look for her. 

“Do you reckon she’s coming back?” Owen questioned, squinting at the textbook in front of him and scribbling down the date of a particularly vicious Goblin lynching that looked like it might be useful during their exam.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “God I hope not,” he responded, trying to see what Owen had written. “The lynching happened in 1533, not 83,” he corrected his friend, writing the date down him as Owen cursed and scribbled the correct date above the incorrect one. 

Almost as if them talking about her had summoned her, footsteps quickly approached their table and they both looked up to see Alice heading in their direction with one of the thickest books Draco had ever seen in her arms. “What’s that?” the blond asked, yelping when she dropped the book to the table, missing his fingers by little more than an inch. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before,” she muttered in lieu of an answer, pushing her hair behind her ear as she sat down on the bench and flipped the book open. Silence followed for the next few moments, during which Draco and Owen began to wonder if the pressure of the exams had made their friend lose what little sanity she’d had. “I’ve found him,” she exclaimed suddenly, making them both jump at the volume of her voice. “Listen,” she instructed, leaning further over the book and beginning to read out loud.

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Philosopher’s Stone over the centuries, but the only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Richard Lazarus, the noted alchemist. Mr Lazarus, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Lady Thaw (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

She finished reading and looked up at Owen and Draco who were staring at her with their mouths open. “No wonder we couldn’t find him,” she said, leaning her elbows on the table. “We were looking in books about recent wizards.”

Owen nodded and pulled the book towards him, turning it around so he could see the text properly. “Yeah, at 665 he’s not exactly a recent wizard is he.”

Draco bit his lip in thought as his grey eyes skimmed over the writing on the page. “So, he knows your great-uncle?” he asked, looking up at Alice.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “He must do. I bet they’ve been friends for years and that the Doctor knows more about this Philosopher’s Stone than anyone else. That’s probably what Janet’s guarding on the third floor.”

Draco frowned deeply and drummed his fingers against the page of the book. “But why would Hart be after that?” he mused.

The witch raised an eyebrow and looked at the blond in amusement. “You said I was wrong about Professor Hart trying to get past Janet,” she reminded him, making him blush and avert his eyes when he realised he’d spoke out loud.

~

  


**Through The Trap Door**  


No matter how interesting she tried to make it seem to herself, History of Magic had to be officially the most boring subject that Hogwarts taught. Surely the teachers were aware of that fact, Alice thought to herself as she yawned widely and glanced at her watch. The exam wasn’t even half over and, while she only had two more questions left, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to stay awake long enough to answer them. After five minutes of trying to force her eyes to focus on the exam, she gave up and scanned the room they were sitting the exam in – the Great Hall. 

At Hogwarts, every student in the year sat the exam at the same time – presumably to stop students advising others of what they could expect from the exam – and as there was only one room in the castle that was big enough to hold everyone, the Great Hall had been converted from food hall, to exam hall; where the large house tables normally sat, were now row after row of individual desks that were evenly spaced across the hall. 

Alice’s desk was at the front nearest to Professor Hart who kept glaring at her every few minutes, but he never got close enough for her to ‘accidently’ kick. 

A few students closest to the door jumped in surprise when it opened and Professor Jones slid inside, heading straight for Hart who was leaning against the teacher’s desk and wearing a sour expression on his face. 

“Hi,” Jones greeted quietly, stepping up to Hart and placing a hand on his arm. “How’s it going?” he added, looking out across the sea of students before them.

Hart shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the other teacher. While his face looked bored, there was something shining in his eyes that Alice couldn’t quite put her finger on. “Zabini keeps trying to cheat off of Malfoy,” he murmured and Alice had to bite down a laugh at that. It Blaise was stupid enough to cheat off Draco, he would deserve the fail that he would likely get. “And Harkness hasn’t stopped looking around for the past ten minutes-,”

At his words, Alice blushed and looked back down at her exam, trying to pretend that he was wrong and she had been focusing on her work all along. She heard Jones chuckle and looked up through her eyelashes to see that they weren’t paying attention to her anymore. 

“Leave her alone, John,” Jones said with an almost begging tone in his voice. “She’s not her father and you can’t keep treating her like she is. It’s not fair.”

Hart scowled at him and his shoulders slumped. “Fine,” he huffed. “By the way,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, “this came for you after you’d left this morning.”

Jones reached out and took the letter from his fellow teacher. “Thanks,” he whispered, glancing down at the writing and clearly finding it difficult to suppress a smile, before he slid it in his back pocket.

“I thought you two had broken up,” Hart murmured softly, running his finger over the tabletop. “After what happened last ni…”

Professor Jones sighed and looked at the other wizard imploringly. “Don’t do this here, John,” he begged, cutting the other wizard off before he could finish his sentence. “We can talk about this later; not in the middle of the exam.”

A bell sounded, indicating that they had twenty minutes of the exam left and Alice jumped in alarm, knowing that she still had two questions that needed to be answered. After she scribbled down an answer to the next question (which was probably wrong) she glanced back up at Hart and Jones, only to discover that the Potions teacher had left at some point. 

Jones was now alone at the front of the hall and she could see that he had taken out the envelope Hart had handed him. Even though she hadn’t seen the writing, she could tell that the letter was from her dad; the smile on his face would have given that away to anyone. Suddenly, he looked up and, as their eyes met, Alice flushed in embarrassment when she realised she’d been caught staring. 

She stared down at her paper, determined that she wasn’t going to look up until the exam was over. After what felt like eternity, Professor Jones finally called, “Okay, that’s it. Time’s up; please put your quills down and turn your exams over.”

Twenty minutes later, all the exams had been collected and Jones had dismissed them from the Great Hall.

“Took you long enough,” Draco muttered, pushing himself away the wall when he spotted Alice leaving the hall. “I thought you were planning on sleeping in there.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Why are you always in a rush?” she demanded.

Owen shrugged his shoulders and fell into step between the bickering pair. “Haven’t you noticed that he’s only in a rush to get out of lessons and exams?” he asked. “Never in a hurry to get to them.”

“Well, why would I be in a hurry to get to lessons?” Draco scoffed.

The staircase changed and Owen let out a small cry of surprise, holding onto the banister tightly. “I’m never going to get used to that,” he stated, letting out a sigh of relief when it stopped. 

Alice jogged up the stairs, waiting for them to catch up at the top. “The year is almost over and you’re still not used to them?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Owen shook his head vehemently. “I will _never_ get used to them,” he reiterated, following Draco and Alice up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Draco paused and took a step back, bumping into Alice as he moved. 

“What is wrong with you?” she demanded, stepping around her and glaring at the witch.

“We’re on the third floor,” Draco whispered, his eyes flickering fearfully to the door at the end of the corridor. “Again,” he added with a scowl.

Alice’s eyes widened in horror at his words and she glanced around them. “What? No we’re not; it just looks like we are. A lot of these corridors look the same,” she tried to reason with herself, more than anyone else.

Draco lifted a hand, scowling when he saw how much it was shaking despite his best attempts to be braver than the other two. “Doesn’t that door look familiar to you?” he whispered. “And shouldn’t it be locked like it was last time?”

“Come on,” Alice instructed, moving down the corridor.

Owen and Draco looked at each other in alarm, before following her quickly. “What are you doing?” Draco demanded, grabbing hold of her arm and turning her to face him.

Alice yanked her arm out Draco’s grasp and continued moving down the corridor. She didn’t speak as she pushed the door further open and stepped into the room. “Damn,” she muttered under her breath when she saw that Janet was fast asleep and the trap door was open. “Hart’s already down there.” She took a step toward the trap down, before pausing when Owen grabbed her arm with strength that she hadn’t even thought he had. “What?” she hissed.

“You’re not seriously considering going down there, are you?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.

Alice nodded. “I’m not going to let Hart – or whoever it is,” she added, throwing a meaningful look at Draco, who returned her glare, “Get that stone. Now are you two going to be girls and stay here, or are you going to come and _help_ me?”

Draco and Owen exchanged a look, before both sighed and their shoulders slumped. “Fine,” the blond muttered, moving over to the trapdoor and looking down with a frown on his face. “I can’t see anything,” he huffed in annoyance.

“So?” Alice shrugged her shoulders. “Just be a man and jump.” She sighed heavily when Draco shook his head. “Fine, I’ll go first.” Before either wizard could stop her, she had jumped through gap in the floor and let out a murmur of surprise when she landed on something soft. 

“Are you still alive?” Draco’s voice called through the trapdoor.

Alice looked up at the opening where she could see their faces looking down into the darkness. “No,” she replied. “I’m talking to you from beyond the grave. Yes, I’m fine! Now, just get your arses down here!”

A few moments later, Draco and Owen landed beside her, both letting out murmurs of surprise at how soft their landing was. “What are we sitting on?” Owen wondered out loud.

Draco pulled his wand out and whispered, “Lumos.”

In the low light emitting from the wand, Alice could see that they were sat on some kind of plant. Owen let out a cry of horror when the plant began to move and slowly wrap around them. “What’s going on?” he demanded, trying to shrink away from the plant, only for it to tighten its hold on him.

“Don’t move,” Draco whispered, waving his hand urgently to try and get Owen’s attention. “I know what this is.”

Owen didn’t listen and Alice rolled her eyes, snapping, “Would you stop that?” The other Slytherin stopped moving instantly and Alice let of a breath of relief. “What is this?” she asked, looking over at Draco.

“Devil’s Snare,” the blond answered easily. “Don’t do anything. You just need to relax and it’ll let you go.” He closed his eyes and leant back against the plant. 

Alice let out a shout of terror as the plant seemed to engulf Draco and he disappeared out of sight. “Draco!” she exclaimed, looking at Owen in horror.

“Will you just listen to me for once?” Draco’s voice snapped from below them. “Relax and you’ll be fine, I swear.”

Having no idea how she was supposed to relax when her heart was beating twice as fast as it should, Alice took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. As her heart slowly returned to normal, she started to feel the plant pull her down, before she fell through to the chamber below, landing in a painful heap at Draco’s feet. “Ow,” she muttered, allowing her friend to pull her to her feet. “Where did you learn how to do that?” she asked, brushing dust from her robes.

Draco rolled his eyes. “I _listen_ in Herbology,” he retorted. His grey eyes looked up at the Devil’s Snare and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Why does no-one ever listen to me? Harper, you need to relax!” he shouted up in Owen’s direction. 

When nothing answered him, Alice sighed and shook her head. “What else do you remember anything else about it?” she asked urgently, knowing that whatever Draco knew was their only way of getting Owen away from the plant.

The blond began pacing back and forth in the chamber, muttering under his breath as he tried to remember what their Herbology Professor had taught them earlier that year. “It shies away from bright light,” he exclaimed. He held his wand high above his head and cried, “Lumos!” as loud as he could. 

Alice grimaced and covered her eyes when a brilliant light, a hundred times brighter than the light he had conjured earlier, erupted from his wand. “Jesus,” she muttered, rubbing at her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the white dots she could now see. “Could that be brighter?”

A cry caught their attention and she opened her eyes in time to see Owen land in a heap a few feet away from them. “You could have conjured a mattress,” he grumbled, getting to his feet and trying to brush dirt from his robes, before giving up entirely.

Draco raised an eyebrow and scoffed, shaking his head as they headed to the door that led to the next chamber. “You weren’t doing what I told you. You should be lucky that at least one of us pays attention in Herbology, otherwise we’d all be dead!”

Alice rolled her eyes at their bickering. “Will you two shut up for five seconds?” she snapped, grinning when they fell quiet instantly. “I can hear something.”

The other Slytherin students frowned deeply and tried to hear what she was listening to. “What is that?” Draco whispered when he finally heard it; the sound of fluttering coming from beyond on the door. He had no idea how Alice could have possibly heard it over their arguing.

“No idea,” Alice replied, crossing the small area and turning the handle, before pushing the door open. 

~

  


**The Final Challenges**  


The chamber they stepped into was lit almost as brightly as the light Draco had conjured earlier, and Alice grimaced a little at the pain she felt in her eyeballs. “What is it with everyone trying to blind me today?” she mumbled, squinting up at the high ceiling above them where dozens of small, jewelled objects fluttered around. 

“Wow,” Owen whispered, following Alice’s gaze. “They’re birds.”

Alice shook her head. “No, look.” She pointed up at the ceiling. “They’re keys.”

Draco and Owen looked at her in surprise. “How the hell can you tell that?” Draco demanded, squinting back up at the objects which still looked like birds to him.

“I’m a Seeker for a reason; I have really good eyesight,” Alice retorted with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “There’s a key right at the top that’s more battered than the rest. Is that locked?” she asked, pointing to the door that would lead them to the next chamber.

Draco jogged across the room and tried the handle. “Yeah,” he replied, nodding his head and turning back to Alice. “Do you really think you can catch that key?” he questioned, watching as she grabbed the battered old broomstick that was nearby.

Even though she wasn’t feeling very confident that she could actually do what she was saying, Alice shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see why not. Snitches are about the same size and I’ve matched to catch it in all Slytherin’s matches this year.”

Not giving them chance to ask her any more questions, Alice climbed onto the broomstick and kicked off hard from the ground. After flying with the Nimbus 2000 since Halloween, suddenly going back to a school broom felt so strange to the Slytherin. She couldn’t help but wish that she had her own broom with her as she flew higher and higher, heading for the key.

Just when she thought she was within reach, the keys seemed to wake up and decided to fly faster than they had been before. “Damn,” Alice muttered under her breath, pressing herself as close to the broom as she could and urging to go faster. “God, this broom is slow,” she grumbled, reaching her hand out and growling in annoyance when the tips of her fingers skimmed its wings. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Draco and Owen watching from the ground. Both boys were clearly holding their breath as they waited for her to put her seeker skills to use. Knowing that she didn’t have a choice – she _had_ to catch the right key – she threw herself a far forward as she could without falling off and finally felt her hand fully close around the key, earning her cheers of joy from her friends. 

“See, I told you I could do it,” she bragged, landing and dropping the broomstick to the floor, before running over to the door and unlocking it. “Let’s see what’s next on the list,” she whispered, pushing it open and stepping through into the next chamber.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, torches on either side of the room burst to life and illuminated the area. “Wow,” Owen whispered. “It’s a giant chess set,” he added, turning on his heel as he looked around with awe obvious on his face.

Alice’s eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. “Please tell me you’re joking,” she begged. Owen shook his head and she groaned, running her hands over her face.  
“What’s your problem?” Draco raised an eyebrow.

She blushed and looked down at the floor. “I… I don’t know how to play chess,” she confessed.

Owen grinned and puffed his chest out, looking prouder than Alice had ever seen him. “Well, you’re lucky because you’re looking at the best wizard’s chess player around.”

The blond Slytherin laughed and shook his head. “Okay then, Mr Brilliant-Chess-Player, show us your skills. What are we supposed to do?”

Owen bit his lip in thought as he looked around, before he grinned widely. “Isn’t it obvious? We’ve got to play our way across the room.” He walked up to black knight and reached out to touch the knight’s horse. He let out a yelp of surprise when the stone sprang to life at his touch. “Okay,” Owen said, turning his back on the playing piece and looking at his friends. “I’ll be the knight. Alice, you be the bishop and Draco, you be that castle.”

For once in their friendship, neither Draco nor Alice argued against Owen’s instructions as they moved across the room and stepped into place where he had indicated to. 

“Now what?” Alice asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

“White always moves first,” Owen answered. He pointed across the room and the others watched a white pawn slowly move forward two spaces.

After that, they quickly fell into a routine, where Owen directed the moves they played while Alice and Draco followed his instructions silently; it was obvious that he had been playing chess for long enough to know what he was doing.

“We’re nearly there. We just need to-,” Owen muttered to himself, drumming his fingers on the knight’s horse as he thought, earning him a look of annoyance from the chess piece. “Yes, that’s the only way we’re going get through this.”

Alice had no idea what he was talking about, but Draco, who had played chess a few times during his life, knew exactly what Owen was planning on doing for their next move. “What?” Draco exclaimed, making Alice jump. “No way! You’re not doing that!”

“What are you talking about?” Alice demanded, looking between Owen and Draco with an alarmed look on her face. “What are you two talking about?”

Draco pointed an accusatory finger at Owen, not even noticing that it was shaking this time. “He’s going to sacrifice himself.”

“What?” Alice shrieked, turning to face Owen. “You can’t do that!”

Owen glared at Draco for giving his intentions away, before turning to Alice who looked as though she was on the verge of tears. “It’s the only way. If I let the queen take me that leaves you free to check the king, Alice” he explained.

“But-,” 

“Do you want to stop Hart or not?” Owen snapped. 

Before either of them, Owen took a step forward, stopping in front of the white queen. They waited with baited breath for white to make a move. Almost in slow motion, the queen raised her arm and struck Owen hard around the head with her stone arm.

Alice let out an involuntary scream when Owen fell to the ground and she was about to run over to him when Draco exclaimed, “Stay where you are! We have to keep playing.” She opened her mouth to argue and Draco shook his head. “Just hurry up and move so you can check the king, then we can check on him,” he instructed, nodding to the king.

Alice sighed and nodded, knowing that Draco was right before she quickly moved three spaces to the left. The white king slowly reached up and Alice winced, afraid that she would be hit like Owen. She let out a breath of relief when the king took off his crown and dropped it at Alice’s feet. They had won.

Immediately, Alice and Draco ran across the room, dropping painfully to their knees next to Owen. 

“He’s okay,” Alice whispered, looking up at Draco happily; the blond was busy pressing his fingers against Owen’s pulse point.

Draco finally nodded his head, agreeing with Alice’s diagnosis, before his eyes turned to the next door. “What do you think is through there?” he questioned softly.

“I don’t know,” Alice replied. “But I know I’m going by myself.”

“What? No, you’re not,” Draco informed her. 

Alice smiled and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m not having you get killed,” she murmured. “You stay here and take care of Owen; I’ll be fine. I’m the ‘Girl Who Lived’ remember? I’m indestructible.”

Draco glared at her. “Don’t joke about things like that, Alice,” he warned. “It’s not funny.” He sighed and looked at the door, before looking back at her. “You promise me you’ll be careful?” he asked.

Alice nodded and leant forward, pressing a kiss against Draco’s cheek. “I promise,” she whispered. She bent down and kissed Owen’s forehead, before getting to her feet. “Wish me luck.”

She crossed the room and pushed the door open. She threw one last look over her shoulder at Draco and before she let the door close behind her, she heard him whisper, “Good luck.”

~

  


**Lord Voldemort**  


The following chamber was considerably smaller than those prior to it, and didn’t look particularly threatening in Alice’s opinion. Along the centre of the room, there was a small table and on top of this sat seven goblets and a piece of parchment. 

Already knowing that the goblets were going to contain potions and knowing that she was going to like this challenge even better than those before it, she reached forward and picked the parchment up. As she had expected her instructions were written in the same handwriting she was using to seeing on her essays as Hart made snide comments about her work. 

“Okay,” she whispered to herself after she had finished reading, “one will take me back in that direction-,” She looked over at the door she had just come from. “Five will kill me and one will take me that way.” Her eyes flickered over to the second door leading from the room. She took a deep breath and placed the note back on the table. “I can’t go back now,” she told herself, closing her eyes and tipping her head back.

Not opening her eyes, and not even trying to work out the riddle (she had never been good at them) the young witch reached out and picked one of the goblets up at random. Slowly she brought it to her lips, taking a large gulp the potion inside. Immediately, her eyes flew open and she grimaced at the taste, dropping the goblet to the floor with a loud clatter. “God, that’s disgusting,” she whispered, wiping her hand over her mouth and clutching her stomach in an attempt to stop herself from vomiting.

After a second, Alice shuddered as she felt any icy cold start to flood through her body, moving from her lips right down to her toes. For a horrible moment, she had the feeling that her instincts had proven her wrong and she had chosen the wrong bottle. When she didn’t drop down dead from the poison, she figured that she had either chosen right or would die a slow death as she tried to head through whatever was behind the door that led to the next chamber.

“Now or never, Harkness,” she whispered to herself, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders as she turned to face the door.

Hesitantly, she reached out and turned the handle. This time she didn’t even need to open the door. Instead, it appeared to dissolve right before her eyes as soon as the palm of her hand connected with the handle. Unfortunately for Alice, it revealed a wall of black fire in its place. She took another deep breath to steel her nerves and walked towards the fire. She winced when she reached the flames, expecting them to engulf her completely, but to her surprise, she couldn’t even feel them as she carried on walking forwards. 

Not even a second later, she found herself on the other side of the flames and in the last chamber. Her eyes widened when she saw that there was already someone there waiting for her – but it wasn’t Hart.

~

A series of staircases lead down from the door and, as Alice slowly moved forward, she could see the Mirror of Erised standing in the centre of the room. As she reached the top of the stairs, she drew in a surprised breath when she realised who was standing with their back to her. 

Their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Hartman, met Alice’s surprised gaze in the mirror and smirked, but otherwise didn’t react to Alice’s presence behind her. “It’s you!” Alice exclaimed, unable to keep quiet about the bookish teacher’s presence. It seemed so strange to her that, after thinking Hart was up to something all year, their Defence teacher who was rarely seen outside of her classroom would be trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone. 

Hartman chuckled softly to herself and smoothed her robes down. “That’s right,” she responded, her voice perfectly calm even as she remained with her back to Alice. “Although, I’m surprised to see you here, Harkness,” she confessed. “I would have thought that the Doctor’s favourite student wouldn’t risk trying to steal the stone.”

“I’m not going to steal it!” Alice cried indignantly, quickly moving down the stairs until she came to a stop less than ten feet away from Hartman. “I came to stop _Hart_ from taking it!”

The woman laughed and finally turned to face Alice. “Yes, well, John does seem the type, doesn’t he? It was actually a stroke of luck that I was able to work alongside someone with his reputation. Next to him, who would ever suspect Hogwarts’ resident bookworm?” She turned back to the mirror, and sighed heavily. “But if only I could find a book that would help me figure out how to get this thing to work,” she muttered.

Alice bit her lip and glanced around quickly, trying to figure out how she could escape without Hartman noticing. Unfortunately, before a plan could form in her mind, the teacher spun on her heel and pointed at her. “Come here, Harkness,” she instructed, a mad glint in her eyes.

The Slytherin shook her head firmly, not planning on moving from the spot she was currently standing on. She let out a yelp of surprise when she felt something invisible grab the front of her robes and pull her forward. “What are you doing?” she cried, trying to turn away from Hartman but the spell Hartman had cast meant that she couldn’t stop heading for the mirror.

Hartman chuckled darkly but didn’t answer as she turned back to study their reflections. “What do you see?” she whispered, her eyes meeting Alice’s in the mirror.

Alice tore her eyes away Hartman’s and focused on her own reflection. She watched as the reflected image blurred and morphed into her bedroom, just like it had when she had first found the mirror. She couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth or the familiar ache of homesickness that swelled up inside her when the door opened and Jack entered the room, grinning as usual.

The mirror Jack headed over to her and she felt the ghostly presence of an arm wrap around her shoulders as he pulled her into a hug. Their gazes locked and Jack winked as his blue eyes flickered down to the pocket of Alice’s robes. Almost immediately, Alice felt the sudden weight of something in the pocket Jack had subtly indicated to (that was one of the ways she knew it wasn’t really him – Jack Harkness did not know what subtle meant).

“What do you see?” Hartman demanded, wringing her hands in impatience.

The young girl blinked and refocused her eyes. “My dad.” Jack had told her that the easiest way to lie was to base her tale on the truth. “He’s welcoming me home for the summer holidays.”

Hartman grimaced and clutched at her stomach with a look of pain on her face. “Liar,” she hissed harshly. “Tell me the truth,” she ordered, lifting her head and nodding to the mirror.

Alice shook her head and took a step back away from the mirror and Hartman. “I am,” she swore.

At her words, Hartman laughed manically and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, before she dropped to the ground at the base of the mirror. Had she been able to, Alice would have taken that opportunity to turn tail and run away as fast as she could. As it was her feet appeared to be glued to the spot and she watched in horror as Hartman’s head lifted from the floor at an angle Alice hadn’t even thought possible. She let out a small yelp of horror when the Professor’s mouth opened and a black mist slowly rose from her body, forming and assuming a human-like shape above the crumpled body.

“So, this is the famous Alice Harkness,” the mist spoke, its voice weak and raspy. “You’re the one who ‘defeated’ me and stripped me of my powers so many years ago.”

An icy chill went through Alice at those words and it immediately occurred to her what – or rather who ¬– was in front of her. “Voldemort,” she whispered, taking a fearful step back. It had never occurred to her that the person trying to steal the stone could have connections with the evil wizard who had killed her mother, and tried to kill her.

The mist let out a high pitched whistle that made the glass of the mirror shake, and angrily lunged forward until it came to a stop a foot away from the student. “How dare you say my name?” it hissed.

Despite the terror she was feeling inside, Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Why shouldn’t I?” she baited it, even as a plan tried to form in the back of her mind. “As far as I can tell, you’re nothing more than a cloud. What are you going to do, choke me to death?”

Again, the mist moved closer to her and Alice took an automatic step back, letting out a cry of surprise when her foot caught the step behind her. Unable to stop herself from losing her balance Alice fell back; hitting her head on the hard stone steps and painfully banging her back. As she landed, something fell from her pocket, and both her and Voldemort turned to see that the stone was lying on the step next to Alice. 

“The Philosopher’s Stone,” Voldemort whispered, lunging for the stone at exactly the same time that Alice did. 

The Slytherin reached it first, but couldn’t fully curly her fingers around the cold stone. Instead, she managed to knock it off the step. She watched with bated breath as it bounced down the stairs, hoping with every inch of her being that it would smash. As was her luck for that day, it reached the bottom in one piece and rolled for a moment, before coming to a stop a short distance away from them. 

Before Voldemort could make a move for the stone again, Alice quickly jumped to her feet. “What are you going to do with the stone, anyway?” She ran across the room and grabbed the stone before could the mist could even move. “You don’t even have a body.”

If a mist could roll its eyes, Alice was sure Voldemort would have done so. “The stone will be able to fully restore me to my former self,” it said slowly as though Alice were a dumb little girl.

“So what would happen if I smash it?” Alice asked innocently, lifting the stone in the air. 

“You will die,” Voldemort hissed.

Alice shrugged her shoulders with more nonchalance than she was feeling. “I’m going to die anyway, aren’t I? I seriously doubt you’re going to let me live once you’ve got your body back. If I’m going to go out, I might as well go out with a bang.” Without saying another word, she pulled her arm back and threw the stone across the room as hard as she could.

Voldemort let out a howl that made her wince and dove after the stone. Alice barely had time to register the fact the Voldemort was heading directly for her, before the mist passed through her body. The force of the assault pushed her back and she couldn’t stop herself from falling to the floor, banging her head once more and knocking herself unconscious. 

~

  


**The Hospital Wing**  


Professor Ianto Jones stepped into the hospital wing and felt his breath immediately catch in his chest at the sight of the pale young girl lying in the bed before him. She looked so small and fragile that it was hard to believe she had just faced the most evil wizard in the world for the second time and survived. Ianto was actually having trouble coming to terms with the fact that his ex-boyfriend’s daughter was old enough to attend the school. Seeing her at the sorting ceremony had reminded him of exactly how long it had been since he had last seen Jack, and he couldn’t help but feel old at the sight of Alice’s smiling face whenever she was with her friends; he still remembered holding her the day she had been born and telling her father how much she looked like him (only for Jack to argue that she looked more like Lucia than him). 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing memories of the past away for the moment. He had been dwelling on what had happened for so long that he didn’t think he could cope with thinking about the past anymore. That had been one of the things that had convinced him to write to Jack; he was positive that if he went over the events in his head for another year, he might as well commit himself to St Mungos – the alcohol he had consumed that night might have also had a hand in convincing him to send the letter. 

Writing to the other wizard made him feel a less worried for his own sanity, but it wasn’t the same as having the other man back in his life. He missed everything about his former lover; his touch, his smile, the way he got irritated when things weren’t going exactly how he had planned. 

His and Jack’s letters had been getting more and more flirtatious since Christmas and, even though he hadn’t brought up the topic of them meeting again, Ianto knew he couldn’t wait much longer and he hoped that Jack – who wasn’t known for being a patient man – was getting just as restless as he was. 

“Ianto?” a voice cut through his thoughts as a hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump. “Are you okay?” the Doctor asked, stepping around the Welshman and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” Ianto murmured, looking up to meet the Doctor’s questioning gaze. “Oh, afternoon, Headmaster. I’m just looking for Madame Pomfrey,” he lied. He didn’t want to explain why he had been so worried about Alice to the Doctor who still didn’t know that Jack and Ianto had been in a relationship for almost four out of their seven school years.

The Doctor chuckled and pointed over Ianto’s shoulder to where the nurse’s office was. “I believe you might find her in there,” he whispered. It was obvious from the look on his face that he knew exactly how worried Ianto had actually been, even if he didn’t know the real reason why.

Ianto’s cheeks coloured a little and he nodded his head. “Yeah. Right, thank you.” He turned to go, but the Doctor placed a hand on his arm and Ianto turned to face him once more. 

“Have you managed to destroy what remained of the stone?” the headmaster asked, dropping his voice a little to prevent anyone potentially hearing the words.

Ianto nodded his head firmly. “Yes, Sir,” he assured the other wizard. “It’s gone. There’s no way the Dark Lord can use it now.”

The Doctor threw him a look at the Charms teacher’s reluctance to say Voldemort’s name. “Fear of a name does us no good, Ianto,” he admonished with a small smile. “If we give him fear, he has power over us. That’s when he’ll really have won this war.”

“Of course,” Ianto agreed with a small incline of his head. “Good night, Doctor.”

“Night, Professor.” The headmaster chuckled closed the door behind the other man, before making his way over to the bed his great-niece was lying in.

Alice felt herself being pulled from unconsciousness and she felt herself stir as footsteps approached the side of her bed. “God, my head,” she whispered, opening her eyes and squinting against the bright light of the hospital room as she lifted her hand to press it against her pounding forehead.

“Welcome back, Alice,” the Doctor greeted, sitting on the bed next to hers and swinging his legs back and forth as he grinned at the Slytherin.

Alice slowly turned her head to the side, trying to not be violently ill as she did so, and stared at the headmaster. “How long have I been gone?” she asked, licking her lips and grimacing at how dry they felt.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out an engraved fob watch. “Three days,” he announced after consulting the device, before placing it back in his pocket. “Young Malfoy and Harper were worried about you.”

Quickly Alice sat up, ignoring the rush of blood to her head and the pain she felt as she moved. “How are they?” she demanded. The memories of what had happened to her friends came flooding back to her and she immediately felt sick remembering how badly injured Owen must have been. “Are they okay?” 

She made a move to get out of the bed and the Doctor held his hand up, stopping her in her tracks. “Don’t worry, they’re both perfectly fine; safe and sound,” he assured her with a smile. “Mr Harper was in here for a day, before Madame Pomfrey declared him as fit as a fiddle.”

“What about Draco?” Alice asked nervously.

The Doctor chuckled and pointed to a pile of books that were sitting on her bedside table. “Mr Malfoy has been here every spare moment he has,” he informed his great-niece. “Even threats of detention couldn’t make him leave unless he had class. I do think that he’s trying to re-read every Gabriel D’Abaddon book before the new one comes out this summer.” Alice stared at him in surprise at his words, and he rolled his eyes. “Yes, Alice, even wizards as old as me know how good well written novels can be,” he said. It was obvious that he had thought Alice was surprised he knew what the books were; when, in actuality, she was amazed that he obviously enjoyed reading his nephew’s work, even if he didn’t know Jack had written them.

Choosing not to correct him – Jack would never forgive her for telling him the truth – Alice decided to change the subject and find out what happened. “What happened down there with Hartman?” she asked, leaning back against the cushions and closing her eyes for a second when a wave of nausea came over her.

“Ah,” the Doctor murmured, running his hand over the back of his neck. “Professor Hartman appears to have been… possessed, in a way, by the essence of Lord Voldemort.”

Alice’s mouth fell open in surprise and she stared at the wizard. “She was _possessed_?” she whispered. She didn’t know what she had expected the wizard to say, but it definitely hadn’t been that.

The Doctor nodded his head. “It seems that way, yes,” he agreed. “Almost two years ago, Professor Hartman went on a journey to the Amazon jungle and, I’m afraid to say that she hasn’t been the same ever since.”

“And you didn’t think to ask her what was wrong?” Alice snapped, forgetting that she was talking to her headmaster, rather than a member of the family at that moment.

To her relief, the Doctor didn’t say anything about her attitude; instead he looked down at his swinging feet with a bashful look on his face. “We _did_ ask her if something had happened at first,” he informed her. “But she swore she was fine, so we didn’t pursue the matter any further. That action, admittedly, wasn’t our better decision.”

Alice frowned a little. “Doctor, Voldemort’s… essence passed through me on the way to the stone. How do you know he hasn’t possessed me?” she demanded, her voice hitching up in panic at the thought that Lord Voldemort could be _living_ inside of her.

Seeing the distress on the young girl’s chair, the Doctor got up from the bed and moved to sit next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “People with your…” He floundered around for a moment as he tried to think of the best word, before deciding on, “Genetics are very hard to control and possess. Lord Voldemort simply wasn’t strong enough to possess anyone with greater willpower than Professor Hartman. I returned from my meeting with Minister Saxon to find Professor Jones waiting for me outside my office,” the Doctor continued with his explanation. “You, Mr Harper and Mr Malfoy were missing when he did an inspection of the dormitories and he was worried that something had happened.”

The Doctor chuckled lightly – although it seemed a little forced to Alice – and shook his head. “You are so much like your father; always looking for trouble,” he added softly.  
Alice glared at him, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Have you told my dad?” she asked. 

Immediately, the Doctor tensed and Alice sighed heavily. “He is… aware of what happened with Professor Hartman,” he informed her, his voice sounding far too formal for Alice’s liking. “He couldn’t come visit you because he was busy with work, but told me to tell you that he’s glad you’re better and he’ll see you when school has finished.”

She knew that he wasn’t telling her the truth; there was no way that Jack would stay away from the school if she had been injured back enough to knock her unconscious. She just knew that they must have gotten into an argument (that probably ended up Jack threatening to pull her out of the school if the Doctor couldn’t protect her properly).

“What happened to Voldemort?” Alice asked, changing the subject and making a mental note to write to her dad as soon as the Doctor had left.

The Doctor tightened his hold on her slightly, before answering, “I arrived in the final chamber just as you threw the stone against the wall. I couldn’t prevent Voldemort from going through you, but I was able to use a series of spells that dispersed his energy sufficiently enough that he was unable to sustain that form and vanished.” Alice looked at him curiously, but he shook his head. “I am not telling you which spells,” he said firmly, knowing what she had wanted know. “Many of them weren’t strictly legal and I am not having you learning those kinds of things.”

Alice pouted and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the bed sheets as though they were responsible for the Doctor’s reluctance to tell her anything else. They were silent for a moment, before Alice looked up. “How did I even get the stone?” she asked. “One minute I was looking in the mirror at my dad, and the next it was in my pocket. I don’t get it.”

The Doctor grinned widely and ruffled her hair, laughing when she batted his hand away in irritation – she was definitely feeling better. “That was one of my more brilliant ideas,” he bragged, puffing out his chest and beaming down at her proudly. “Only one who wanted to _find_ the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it.” Alice frowned, not fully understanding what he was saying, and opened her mouth to question him further, but the Doctor shook his head. “I think that’s enough questions, don’t you? I have discussed it with my friend Richard and we both agreed that Professor Jones should destroy the stone.”

“But… But without it, won’t Lazarus die?” Alice questioned, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. 

The Doctor nodded his head slowly, a sad expression flittering across his face. “Richard and his wife have enough elixir to set his affairs in order. But, yes, eventually they will die,” he agreed. “Now, I think it’s time you made a start on all these sweets.”

He reached out and picked up an empty Chocolate Frog package. “It looks as though Mr Malfoy has already started helping you with them,” he added with a brilliant smile that Alice couldn’t help returning.

~

Alice was finally allowed out of the hospital wing the next day and she was more than happy to leave the medical centre of Hogwarts behind. She had been going stir crazy since she had woken up as Madame Pomfrey didn’t seem willing to let Owen and Draco stay with her while she was conscious, and she had refused to let them in the hospital wing for longer than fifteen minutes at a time.

“Hey, kids,” she greeted, stopping at the top of the stairs that lead down from the hospital wing and looking down at her friends who were waiting. “Did you miss me?” she added, with smirk as she jogged down the stairs.

Draco and Owen spun around in surprise, before identical looks of relief and happiness spread across their faces. “She let you out?” Draco breathed, throwing his arms around her, closely followed by Owen, as soon as she reached them.

Alice gasped and would have stumbled back a step had she been able to move, as they knocked the wind out of her. It took her a moment to recover from the onslaught, before she could react enough to hug them back. “Guys! Don’t think that that I’m not glad to see you too, but unless you want to put me back in the hospital wing, you’re going to have to let me go. I can’t breathe!”

“Oh,” Owen murmured, talking a step back and smiling at her apologetically. “Sorry.”

After being nudged by Owen, Draco reluctantly released his friend. “Did the Doctor give you your exam results?” he asked, trying to ignore how much he was blushing.

Alice nodded her head. “Thankfully I managed to pass everything.” Owen raised an eyebrow and Alice chuckled, knowing exactly what he was thinking. “Even potions,” she added. “I would have thought Hart would have failed me just because he could.”

When they reached the Great Hall, they were amazed to find that it was decorated completely with green and silver banners and ribbons – even the table cloths were Slytherin coloured. “Come on,” Draco whispered, tugging the sleeve of her robe in an attempt to urge her over to their table as the Doctor got to his feet and the hall fell silent. 

“I want to congratulate you all on a good year,” he said, addressing the students and beaming down at them all. “I hope your heads are all fuller than they were at the beginning of the year. Don’t worry,” he continued with a smirk, “you all have the whole summer to get them nice and empty for September.”

There was a ripple of laughter throughout the room – even the Doctor chuckled to himself. “I would also like to congratulate Professor Hart and the Slytherin house for winning both the Quidditch and House cups for the first time in… How long has it been now, Professor?” He looked down at Hart, who looked positively murderous. Hart muttered something through his teeth that none of them could hear and the Doctor laughed loudly, shaking his head. “No matter, congratulations regardless.” 

He turned back to the school and finished with, “I hope you all have wonderful summers. Now, I think it’s time we finished eating. Alons-y!”

~

  


**Home Again**  


Alice had spent the entire train journey talking about how excited she was to see her dad again and, by the time they rolled into Kings Cross, Owen and Draco were seriously considering throwing her out of the window before the train came to a stop, just to have a bit of peace for five minutes. 

“Will you calm down?” Draco finally snapped as he fastened his cloak around his neck and grabbed his backpack. “You’re doing my head in,” he growled.

Alice glared at him and threw on her denim jacket – she was not going to wear robes on her way home from the train station. “Aren’t you excited to be going home?” she asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

Owen and Draco shared glances with each other before they shrugged their shoulders. “I suppose,” they murmured in unison.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Draco added and Owen nodded his head.

“It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again,” Owen mused. “I’m supposed to catch the Portkey home with Suzie,” he added as the platform came into view. “I suppose I’d better go find her.”

Draco stuck his head out of the window and sighed heavily. “My father isn’t here yet,” he said, moving so his whole body was back inside the carriage once more. “No point in me rushing off the train, then,” he muttered.

He let out a yelp of surprise when Alice pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. “We should meet in Diagon Alley during the summer,” she suggested, turning to hug Owen as well.

The blond took a step back when he had been released and nodded his head. “I know I’ll be there to get my school books in August; we’ll have to make sure we get them on the same day. I’m pretty sure D’Abaddon has got a new book coming out then as well,” he murmured, clearly trying to remember the exact date and failing.

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes. “He does,” she assured him, picking her backpack up and opening the door. She waved goodbye, before jumping down from the carriage onto the platform. “Dad!” she cried, spotting Jack waiting for her underneath the clock on the opposite end of the platform.

In the blink of an eye, she was standing in front of him – and action which made Jack frown in disapproval - and she threw her arms around him, hugging him as tight as she could. “I missed you,” she whispered, pressing her face against his chest and breathing in his familiar scent. It felt like she had been away from home for longer than a few months.

His disapproval forgotten, Jack grinned and held her tightly. “I missed you too, honey.” He pulled back at held her at arm’s length, studying her to see if anything had changed since the last time they had seen each other. “You’ve gotten taller,” he decided.

Alice laughed and shook her head. “By an inch at most,” she agreed, not wanting to bicker with him yet – there would be plenty of time for that later.

Neither of them spoke for a moment, both of them enjoying the moment, until Jack released Alice. “We need to go your stuff,” he stated, holding his hand out to his daughter but completely expecting her to turn him away. To his surprise, she nodded her head and slid her hand into his, before leading him down the platform to where the porter was unloading the train. “By the way,” Jack began conversationally as they walked, filling Alice with dread; nothing good had ever gone out Jack’s mouth after those words. “You and I really need to talk about this whole danger thing you’ve got going on.”

Alice swallowed nervously. “Sorry?” she offered, looking up him with large eyes. 

Jack’s eyes narrowed and he glared down at her, trying to resist the Harkness Charm; both of them knew that very few people were immune when one of them turned on the charm. “Oh, stop looking at me like that,” he muttered, nudging her shoulder as they waited for her luggage. “You know you’re not really in trouble.”

A huge grin spread across her face when she realised that she’d won. “Oh!” she exclaimed, remembering that she had asked to deliver something to her father when she saw him. “Professor Jones asked me to give you this,” she informed Jack, reaching into the front pocket of her bag and pulling out a piece of parchment. “It just looks blank to me.” She shrugged her shoulders and moved away to collect her trunk from the porter as they reached the front of the line.

Jack frowned deeply and glanced down at the paper, feeling his breath catch in his throat as he saw that Alice had been wrong; Ianto had clearly cast a charm on it, making the writing invisible to anyone but Jack, because he could clearly read the words written on the parchment. 

_J, I’m getting tired of waiting. I need you._

The End


End file.
